


count my sins

by spideymark



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Angst, Blood, Character Death, M/M, Pining, a lot of swearing, did i mention they're housemates, hyuck is deadpool, mark is spiderman, probably gonna be domestic af, slowburn, spideypool markhyuck, yeah they're living TOGETHER
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-18
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2020-06-30 09:45:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 61,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19850587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideymark/pseuds/spideymark
Summary: “Stop inserting yourself into any dangerous situation that happens just because you can come back alive from it! A dangerous situation is still a dangerous situation!” Mark is spiderman, who’s been giving the task of convincing Donghyuck, also known as deadpool, to join the avengers.





	1. he doesn't want to be an avenger

**Author's Note:**

> I randomly had a mini breakdown over the idea of spideypool markhyuck and decided to make it a reality. I don't really know how long this will be or if I will even continue this so don't except much from me. Enjoy <3

There were moments in Mark’s life that Mark would never forget. Most were for obvious reasons, like the day he got bit by a radioactive spider that gave him his powers, the fever driven hallucinations that the day was filled with were pretty difficult to forget. The day after the incident, when he finally realized he had changed. Those days were reasonable for him to remember because they had changed his life forever. The newest addition to the list though, was meeting Donghyuck.

⋆⋆⋆

It was a sort of blur for Mark. He had gone to school, had gone home, and then spent some time waiting for something to come up. The sky was a mix of orange and pink hues when his hijacked police radio went off. It was hard to understand as the person speaking was rushing to talk and some words didn’t make sense but he was able to make out that some type of robbery had occurred, two getaway cars had been used and there were several injuries. He waited a second to hear where the cars were headed before jumping into action. As he was swinging his way toward one of the two, he could hear the police sirens ringing even from a distance. As he got closer he started to make out the telltale sign of gunshots being fired and he almost groaned. Bullet wounds were messy and it would be a pain in the ass to explain to Mr. Lee so he made a mental note to try to avoid getting shot.

He was close enough now to make out the bright red car being chased by the police. Mark was beginning to get ready to jump in when he noticed a figure standing in the road up ahead. It was too far away for him to see clearly but there was definitely someone standing out to the side. As the red car accelerated in an attempt to get away from the police car Mark deemed it safe to make his entrance. He pushed himself to get closer to the red car when it suddenly swerved to the right almost crashing into a building but managed to miss it by just a hair. Mark silently cursed to himself as the police car tried to do the same but wasn’t as lucky and actually crashed. 

He quickly maneuvered himself to turn and continue following the cherry car. It wasn’t hard to find but Mark was surprised to see a figure clinging onto the roof of the car. He could hear the gunshots being fired but the person continued to cling on. He was about to jump down when the car swerved again and this time crashed into a light post sending the figure flying out ahead. There was a second of ringing before two people raced out of the totaled car and began to run, guns in each hand. Mark dropped down and quickly followed behind. Waiting until they were close enough to a building he shot out and webbed their hands before they could turn around. He set to web their feet and when they began to yell, their mouths as well. 

Now that that was done he turned around meaning to go search for the person he had seen. Only when he went to where he had landed, there was no one there. Only a pool of blood was left and a sort of trail that lasted a couple of feet before disappearing. Strange 

Mark had just turned when he felt a chill run through his body, his body responding before his brain could process what had happened. He was now standing a good meter from where he had just been. 

“Wow he wasn’t joking when he said you were fast, huh?” he heard behind him followed by a chuckle. 

“What?” he asked confused on who he was looking at. The person standing was a complete mess. His blonde hair clung to his scalp and was soaked red from blood. His face was bloody as well, a long gash on his left cheek that looked painful even to Mark. The T-shirt he was wearing had blood stains and holes from the bullets and Mark couldn’t tell how he was standing. His right arm was loose at his side almost as if it had been popped out of its socket. “Mr. Lee? He told me you were fast but I thought he was joking. Anyways, do you think we could get going? I need to go shower and sleep this all off.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Look dude I know you don’t know shit because Mr. Lee likes to keep you in the dark but he sent me here with you. To see the life you live or some crap like that. He thinks I’ll change but I doubt it. Let’s just go.” Mark seems to be frozen as he watches the boy limp towards him. 

“Mr. Lee sent you? For what?” He finally musters as the boy stands before him. He’s a couple of inches shorter than him so he has to look up at Mark. 

“I told you dude. I’m supposed to learn some crap from you since you’re the example student or whatever.” 

“He said that?’

“No, he just wants me to join the team but I don’t want to.” He closes his eyes as he grips his upper arm with his left hand before pushing. An eerie sort of pop reaches Mark’s ears and the boy sags forward in what seems to be relief. 

Mark breathes in before letting out a soft “what the fuck,” earning a small laugh from the boy. “Why wouldn’t you want to be an Avenger?” he asks and the boy’s eyes open, glaring up at Mark. “You literally just saw me pop my arm back into place and you’re worried over that?” 

“Well, yeah. What kind of hero doesn’t want to be an avenger?”

“Exactly. I’m not a hero,” he mutters before his legs give out and he falls forward into Mark. He lets out a squeak seeing the boy fall but manages to keep him upright as much as he can. He’s leaning against him, his whole body weight on Mark. He can faintly make out the wetness dripping down the boy’s neck as it reaches Mark’s fingers which makes him question if he should take the boy to a hospital but decides against it as he wouldn’t know exactly what to say. 

After a couple of seconds contemplating how he’s gonna carry the boy he decides the best option is to hold him with one arm while using the other to swing. He makes sure the boy is securely in his arm before making his way home. 

⋆⋆⋆

“Are you sure he’ll be fine, Mr. Lee?” Mark asks again and he can hear him sigh through the phone. His eyes are on the boy who’s currently asleep in one of the guest bedrooms. Once he had gotten him home, he had done his best to get rid of his bloodied clothes and attempted to wipe his face clean of blood before calling Mr. Lee. 

“For the third time, Mark. Yes, he’ll be fine. Donghyuck has an amazing healing factor that allows him to regenerate cells at a much faster rate than any regular human. He just needs to rest and eat.” he explains and Mark nods while listening. “So he’s just gonna sleep it off?”

“Basically. He’s been through much worse and lived. This is like a walk in the park for him,” There’s a pause as if he doesn’t know exactly what to say before beginning again, “I sent him to you because I thought you’d know how to handle him, Mark. If it becomes too much, just let me know but I’d really love for him to join us. Not only would he be a great addition to the team but he could...also be a friend for you. That is if you want? He’s a year younger but compared to us oldies I thought it’d be nice for you?” 

Mark can feel his cheeks burning as he lets Mr. Lee’s words register in his mind. “You are too kind Mr. Lee. I’ll try my best.” 

“Good, now I have to go. Stay safe kid.” and with that he hangs up leaving Mark alone. 

Mark sighs as he takes one last look at the sleeping boy before closing the door and hoping the blood in the sheets won’t be an ass to clean.


	2. couple suits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!! It's me again :D Anyways here's the new chapter hope you enjoy

It wasn’t like Mark hated Donghyuck but...he hated him. He hadn’t been expecting to hate him, he really hadn’t but he just couldn’t help himself. Donghyuck knew exactly which buttons to press to annoy Mark. 

The following day Mark had awoken almost forgetting about all of yesterday’s events. (Keyword almost) Only when he walked into the kitchen, still groggy from sleep, he was greeted with a loud, “Hey, like no offense but your food selection kind of sucks. I mean no offense really, well I do but I didn’t want you to get butthurt, anyways do you think we could go grocery shopping?” 

Mark pushed himself to open his eyes as much as he could, which wasn’t much considering they were heavy from sleep, to stare at his intruder. There he was, standing behind the kitchen island, as if he hadn’t been shot several times just the night before. He realizes that Donghyuck seems to be wearing the set of clothes he had left out for him. Mark squints as he tries to make out the gash Donghyuck had on his cheek but couldn’t see anything. Impressive. 

“You seem good for a guy who almost died last night.” is all Mark says, his voice deep from sleep, before shuffling toward the refrigerator. Donghyuck chokes on whatever he was eating but he chooses to ignore it, instead he blinks trying to get his eyes used to the bright light of the refrigerator. 

“Has anyone told you your morning voice is hot as fuck? Because god damn, that’s hot.” he hears, silently wishing he could ignore that too but his cheeks are already feeling hot. He grabs the milk carton, closing the door as he sets off to find his lucky charms. “Also for your information I didn’t almost die. I did die.” 

Mark hums in acknowledgement as he pours himself some cereal, not really listening. “What are you not curious about me dying?” Donghyuck huffs and Mark shakes his head. 

“Why not? Everyone is.” he shoves some more food into his mouth and vaguely Mark registers he’s eating some very burnt looking toast before continuing to talk with his mouth open, “Like honestly it’s not that big of a deal. I get it. Everyone wonders what’s after death so you’d ask the one person who’s died more times than they can count what it looks like.” He takes another bite, “Well imagine their disappointment when I tell them there’s nothing. It’s just pitch black every time.” He pauses and Mark takes a moment to look down at his now borderline soggy Lucky Charms. 

“Maybe it’s different for others, you know? Like there’s no real telling because everyone is different so who knows.” And with that he shoves the remaining toast into his mouth and chews loudly which ticks Mark off. He not only hates open mouthed chewers but loud chewers who make his Lucky Charms soggy. 

“You should eat that before it gets soggy.” is the last thing Donghyuck says before walking away, to who knows where, leaving a mess of crumbs on the island for Mark to clean up. 

⋆⋆⋆

Mark is sitting on the kitchen table working on an upcoming paper when his silence is interrupted by, “Yo spidey, do you think we could order some food. Or at least get some groceries.” He can’t help but close his eyes in annoyance, still not used to the idea of no longer living alone. “Woah are you still in school? I didn’t know you were younger than me.” 

“I’m not. Mr. Lee insisted I continue with my education and enroll into a University.” Mark says, opening his eyes watching as Donghyuck takes a look at one of the couple textbooks laid out on the table. His face twists before looking at Mark again. “That must suck. I’d hate it.” 

“It’s not that bad.” he lies because he would not hear the end of it if Donghyuck somehow mentioned it to Mr. Lee. There were times where school didn’t really annoy Mark, it was a nice distraction from his Spiderman life. Then there was the obvious stress of finishing papers and managing his attendance so he doesn’t ultimately fail for not showing up. Although, he does doubt that he could fail not when Mr. Lee was one who showed up with him to his Freshman Orientation day and donated a big sum of money to the school. Mark doesn’t like thinking about that too much because for the most part he wants to accomplish this himself but that didn’t mean he didn’t enjoy the nice cushion surrounding his future. 

“Yeah and I don’t find you extremely attractive even when you look like someone I could find at my local grocery store.” 

“What?” 

“What?” he repeats innocently, smile widening as he notices the faint blush blooming on Mark’s cheeks. 

“I can’t tell if you just complimented me or insulted me.” Mark mutters trying to make his face feel less hot. Fuck him and his inability to not blush for just about anything. 

“What do you feel more?” 

“Insulted, I think.” he looks up to meet Donghyuck’s eyes. They’re a warm solid brown color similar to his. “Aw don’t be i was trying to compliment you more than anything.” he coos watching Mark’s cheeks turn a deeper shade of red. 

“Thanks? I guess” is all he can muster to say without embarrassing himself. 

“You’re so cute Spiderman. I can see why girls and boys all around the world are in love with you.” 

“It’s Mark by the way, in case you didn’t know.” Mark says, closing his laptop and pushing the chair back so he can stand up. “Oh, I know Mark Lee. Taeyong told me all about you just as I’m sure he told you all about me.” he smiles sweetly at Mark. 

“Yeah, sure. He said you were Donghyuck.” He turns walking away in search of his car keys and phone. 

“Donghyuck, Hyuck, Deadpool. You can call me whatever you want. You can even call me yours if you’d like, although I would like a dinner at least before you start.” 

“Fuck you, let’s go Donghyuck.” Is all Mark replies with, walking out the front door, leaving a giggling Donghyuck behind. 

“C’mon! You walked right into that one!” He shouts as he follows Mark. 

⋆⋆⋆

Living with Donghyuck wasn’t exactly easy for Mark. Every ugly habit that Mark hated Donghyuck seemed to have. He chewed loudly and with his mouth open too, not even taking the time to chew properly before speaking. He made a mess of crumbs wherever he ate and refused to wash any dishes because he found it “extremely disgusting.” Since his clothes had yet to be brought over he had begun to wear Mark’s clothes. Now that wouldn’t be a problem if Donghyuck didn’t constantly nag at his choice of fashion. “Honestly Mark who the fuck wears these types of clothes? I wouldn’t so you shouldn’t either.” 

He refused to use the bathroom near his bedroom because it didn’t have a tub, like Mark’s. He left his bathroom floors a mess whenever he showered or bathed, leaving his dirty clothes on the floor. He found that Donghyuck even seemed to breathe loudly if that was even possible. He sat with Mark whenever he did his homework and the silence just made it louder. 

Worst of all, Donghyuck was clingy. Mark was sure it was just because he learned of Mark’s distaste in skinship but that didn’t make it any better. Ever since Mark had pushed him away after the first hug Donghyuck had given him he had jumped at any opportunity to touch Mark. Often trying to cuddle him if they were sitting on the couch, grabbing his hand if it was free. He had voiced his dislike to Donghyuck several times now but each time all he received was a small sorry that made Mark believe he was not sorry at all. 

It had been days since anything serious had happened and Mark was beginning to grow restless. He didn’t have classes until the following week and he was tired of being holed up with Donghyuck. He was beginning to wonder if he’d lose his mind if he stayed any longer with him when his police radio went off. 

“home invasion on desert road…..a child called saying there were several individuals with guns...need any available officers to answer.” 

And there it was, God answering his prayers. 

“Donghyuck we’re leaving. Hurry and change. Meet me in the back in two minutes.” He shouts as he races to his room for his spidey suit. He’s out in record time, the smell of upcoming rain filling his nose. 

He’s just about to shout for Donghyuck again when there’s a blur of red and a crash by his feet. Donghyuck groans standing up trying to pull his mask on. 

“What the fuck. Why is your suit red?” Mark asks staring at the crimson red rubber suit Donghyuck was sporting. 

“Beats me. It does wonders for my ass though,” He pauses and looks behind Mark before turning back to him and although Donghyuck’s face is hidden he can tell he’s smirking when he says, “seems it does the same for yours.” 

Fuck this there’s no time for any of this. 

He doesn’t say anything as he wraps an arm around Donghyuck and pulls him towards his side before shooting at the biggest tree he can see, using it to start his swinging. Donghyuck seems to squeak as his arms scramble to hold onto Mark as tight as he can.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if that was short. I'm not exactly sure when I'll post a new update but I will try to make it longer! If you liked it leave me a kudo and or a comment :D till next time !!!!


	3. heavy with rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: somewhat detailed talk of blood in this chapter 
> 
> Hellooooooo!! It's me again, hope you guys enjoy the chapter!!!! Please leave me any of your thoughts down below :D

The air is filled with the smell of rain, thick and heavy, it almost seems to be surrounding Mark, trying to suffocate him. Mark hates it. Hates all the memories rain brings back to him, reminding him of everything he so desperately tries to forget. 

He shakes his head, trying to focus on the night ahead of him. “Look, I’m gonna walk in and distract the men while you look for the kids, got it?” Mark says, his voice slightly muffled by his mask. Donghyuck turns to look at him, his lips slightly pursued as if he did not, in fact have it. 

“Dumb plan, Spidey. I’m not suitable for handling kids while you, on the other hand,” he stops to gesture at Mark, “You’re great for the kids.” Mark stares at him trying to understand what exactly Donghyuck is entailing. “What?” 

Donghyuck sighs, rolling his eyes at Mark’s slowness to understand the situation. “I go in, mess with the dudes, try not to k word them while you rescue the kids. You hurry though because if I get bored with them quickly then I will end up k wording them.” He says before pulling his mask back on. 

“K word? You mean you’re gonna kill them?” Mark breathes out, his voice rising as he realizes what Donghyuck just said. Donghyuck just cocks his head slightly to the right and Mark is glad he can’t see his face at the moment because he’s pretty sure he would punch him. 

“Duh, what else was it supposed to mean? But when you say it out loud like that, it sounds bad so let’s both agree to not use that word, alright?”

There’s no way he can be serious. 

“And yes, to answer your question, I am gonna un-alive them if you don’t hurry being the hero so I suggest you work fast.” 

This is all a sick joke. A sick joke that Mr. Lee must be playing on him. 

“I don’t think you’re aware of this but I don’t do killing, Donghyuck. In fact, while you’re here with me neither will you. It’s not something we’re gonna do.” He says as sternly as he can. There’s no way he’s going to allow Donghyuck to do something like that. 

“Okay whatever you say, Captain buzzkill. I still don’t think I should be put in charge of the kids. You do that, yeah?” He says straightening up, startling Mark. He’s no longer looking at Mark, but at the house across the street. “Yeah sure, just don’t kill them alright?” 

“Thought we established we wouldn’t use that word, Spidey.” 

Mark rolls his eyes, standing up and stretching his arms behind him. “Donghyuck, I’m serious.” 

“Me too.” Donghyuck responds before he begins to walk toward the house. 

⋆⋆⋆

This was not a good idea. Mark should have realized that the moment he smelled the rain staining the air. Nothing good ever came from the rain. 

“I’m seriously getting tired of this little game y’all are playing.” Donghyuck shouts as a nearby lamp shatters. The lights are all off in the house but it isn’t hard to make out Donghyuck from across the room. He’s huddled behind the couch, which has been turned to act as a makeshift shield protecting him from the bullets that are currently being fired at him. 

“Seriously what the fuck? You’re seriously beginning to piss me off and a pissed off Deadpool is not something you wanna witness.” Mark rolls his eyes at that. Donghyuck really is insufferable, no wonder Taeyong had given up and sent him to Mark. Lucky him. 

“Spidey? Do you think you could I don’t know? Maybe fucking give me a hand here?” He shouts, looking at Mark. “I’m trying. Give me a second.” He shouts back, as he takes a deep breath before peeking around the corner he was hidden behind. His eyes strain to make out where the men could be. 

From what he could tell, there were only two left, the other three had already been taken care of upstairs. He notices a slight shift and doesn’t think before acting, he shoots. The web sticks onto the man’s leg and Mark can see the exact moment he realizes what’s happened because his arms scramble down in an attempt to remove the web but it’s already too late for that. Mark pulls with all he’s got. There’s a loud clatter as the man’s gun lands on the hard tile followed by a gasp as the man loses his balance and falls onto the floor. He’s flying for a split second as Mark pulls him before he hits the wall, making a huge gap in it and probably breaking several bones as well. Mark winces at the thought but doesn’t linger on it as he watches the man’s unconscious body slump down onto the floor. 

His ears are ringing but he can faintly hear grunts and the sound of Donghyuck cursing in the background. In the next moment he hears a gunshot and Donghyuck yelling followed by a body being slammed down before silence. He breathes out slowly, as the silence continues. 

“Donghyuck?” He whispers, suddenly afraid of even breathing loudly, not when the silence is menacing. There’s no response and Mark is starting to think the worst when he feels his body light up with the sensation of ants crawling on him. Someone is approaching him but he can’t tell if it’s Donghyuck or the other man. He stands still waiting for the person to get close enough where he can grab his shoulders and shove making them fall. 

“You son of a bitch! You fucking grabbed my bullet wound you fucking asshole!” 

And just like that the silence is shattered.

“Donghyuck?”

“Who else?! Seriously what the fuck, Mark? It hurts! I can’t believe you would do that!” And suddenly Mark is scrambling on his feet to reach him, his feet not moving as fast as he would like them to. 

“Donghyuck? Oh my God, I’m sorry. I thought you were the other guy, I didn’t know it was you.” Mark rushes to say as he crouches down to take a good luck at him. Donghyuck is clutching his right forearm with his left hand. “Yeah, obviously you sick fuck! Fuck you, I hope a lightning strikes your spidey ass down.” he says, before grunting as Mark presses down on his hand. 

“Okay well before that happens I need to go check on the kids.” Mark says ignoring Donghyuck’s words. As gently as he can, he grabs ahold of Donghyuck’s waist and straightens, pulling him up as well. Donghyuck is mumbling to himself as Mark helps him walk outside. “I’m gonna go back inside to get all the men together, okay Donghyuck? You can just sit here on the porch while you wait.” Donghyuck nods and Mark’s gone after that leaving Donghyuck alone to his pain. 

⋆⋆⋆

As Mark is pulling the tied up men down the stairs, he wonders what they possibly could have been looking for that would require five armed men.

When Donghyuck and him had walked into the house, the living room had been a mess. Every painting or portrait was thrown onto the floor and Mark quickly understood they had been looking for a possible hidden safe. Every room had been in the same condition, a mess of furniture and random papers. The jewelry and valuable items untouched which was strange. If it had been a normal robbery then they would have just hit the safe and grabbed anything shiny but they hadn’t. 

He was glad he was able to find the children fairly easily because he had been able to take them to the neighborhood park before swinging back to make sure Donghyuck did not kill anyone and now he was here. He silently wished one of the five were awake so he could try to question them in what their goal was but all of them were knocked out cold. Mark sighed, webbing them all down one last time before walking out to meet Donghyuck again. 

“Hey, ready to go?” He asks making him look up at Mark. His mask was still on and Mark wondered what his expression looked liked at the moment. He doesn’t say anything as he clumsily stands up, almost falling forward but before he can, Mark is there to steady him. He grabs hold of his waist, and they’re swinging to the park. As they land, Mark makes sure to help Donghyuck sit down on a nearby picnic table before walking over to the kids. 

“You’re back!” The little boy exclaims as he sees Mark, pushing his sister’s arm off his shoulder as he races toward him. His little body slams into Mark’s and Mark tries not to stumble back before he’s picking him up in his arms. “You’re okay? The bad men didn’t hurt you?” The boy asks as his little eyes scan over him. Mark chuckles as he shakes his head which makes the boy smile, his gums on full display and dimples adorning his chubby cheeks. Mark is tempted to coo at him when the boy’s sister arrives.

“That’s good,” she murmurs, her hands tightening against the blanket around her shoulders. “Yeah, I’m glad you’re safe too. Glad it didn’t start raining while you were out either. Would hate for you both to come down with a cold because of me.” Mark says looking up at the dark sky. The smell of rain is heavier now, filling the air completely with its thick smell. It should start raining soon. 

“I called the police again while you were gone, told them you were handling it.” The girl says, and the little boy in Mark’s arms nods along. “Told them you had come in to save the day,” he whispers to Mark and Mark is smiling now, it’s a pity they can’t see it. He reaches up to pinch the boy’s cheeks with his free hand, making the boy giggle. 

“I told them we were here, they should be here at any moment now” She continues and on cue, the faint sound of sirens ringing can be heard. “And there they are,” Mark says, pinching his cheeks one last time before setting him down next to his sister. 

He crouches down to be at the boy’s height. “I’m sorry I trashed your living room trying to get the bad guys. I’ll make sure to tell Mr. Lee about it and he’ll pay for all the damages.” he tells them and the little boy shakes his head, “It’s okay, daddy has a lot of money. He can fix it!” he exclaims. 

“They’re scientist, money’s good.” the sister explains, patting her brother’s head. “Oh, that’s nice but it was partially my fault so I’ll still let him know.” He boops the boy’s nose because he can’t help himself, before standing. The sirens are louder now. 

“I must go now, please take care of yourselves.” Mark tells them before standing. He takes one last look at the dimpled boy smiling up at him and at his curly haired sister before turning back to where Donghyuck was. His eyes are closed but as Mark wraps an arm around him to get him up, they open. He looks at Mark sleepily, before resting his head on Mark’s shoulder, closing his eyes again. Neither of them say a word on their way to the house, nor when they arrive. It’s only when Mark is helping Donghyuck take off his mask and suit that Donghyuck speaks. 

“Told you you’d be good with the kids,” he murmurs, his words slurred and hot against Mark’s neck. “Hmm?” he hums. 

“They loved you. Couldn’t have done that myself.” he explains, wincing slightly when Mark pulls his sleeve down revealing the messy bullet wound. “They like heroes Donghyuck.” is Mark’s only response. “Yeah, I know.” Donghyuck mutters as Mark continues to rid him of his suit until he’s clad in his rubber ducky boxers. “What the fuck?” Mark questions looking at the other bullet wounds he was not aware of. 

“How many times did you fucking get shot?” He asks ironically because Mark can see all five of them. “I don’t know, don’t care. Go get a washcloth or something so I can get rid of them.” He grunts at Mark, his face twisted in pain. He’s sweating heavily and Mark doesn’t question him, only does as he asked. 

When he comes back, Donghyuck is panting slightly and it takes him a few seconds to notice Mark’s presence. When he does, he shifts on the bed so his back is against the wall. “Come here,” he grits his teeth as Mark gets on the bed, kneeling by his side.

“Hold it to the wound,” he instructs and only when Mark has it pressed against his skin does he grunt as his body tightens. Mark is confused on what’s happening as he watches Donghyuck continue to gasp and grunt until he feels the washcloth wet with blood and something hit against his hand. Donghyuck sags back into the wall, panting. Mark takes the moment to pull his hand back cradling the washcloth in his palm. 

And oh. 

There in the middle of the washcloth is a bullet. The bullet that was in Donghyuck just a moment ago. Which Donghyuck just got out of himself by doing who knows what. Glancing back at Donghyuck’s arm he can see his skin moving already, working to fill the gap, to heal him. 

That’s pretty impressive. 

He’s still looking at the bullet when Donghyuck straightens again and Mark looks up to meet his eyes. He looks tired and Mark wishes he could do something more than this. It’s obvious that it hurts. Obvious that although he can heal himself, it still pains him to get hurt. And although Mark hates Donghyuck, Mark can’t help but wish he could switch places with him in this very moment. Take some of his pain away. 

“Don’t look at me like that.” Donghyuck mutters, his eyes still on Mark’s. “Like what?” Mark questions, confused. “Like you pity me, I don’t need it.” 

“I-I wasn’t?” Mark says but it seems to come out as a question and Donghyuck shakes his head. “I can tell Mark. Keep it to yourself. I just need you to finish helping me with this so I don’t stain these sheets as well.” He says, closing his eyes again getting ready to do whatever he did moments prior. 

Too late for that last part, Mark thinks to himself as he places the bloody bullet on the space next to his folded leg. A pity because these vine sheets were nice and had been a steal from the online website he had bought them from. He silently presses the cloth against another wound and watches Donghyuck grit his teeth as his body tightens. 

“Really fucking wish you would’ve let me kill them,” he grits out as the rain finally comes down, the sound of harsh droplets hitting against the neighboring window, drowning Donghyuck’s pained noises and Mark’s thoughts with it.


	4. warm and cool tones

A week later, Mark comes home to find Mr. Lee sitting in his living room. He was just coming back from his classes, his head pounding and body begging to nap, when he notices the mess of red hair from where he was slipping his shoes off. His brows furrow as his mind tries to remember any message informing him of Mr. Lee’s visit. Usually if he passed by, he either messaged him himself or had Jungwoo call him. 

“Mark! Hurry up, Mr. Lee is here!” he hears Donghyuck shout at him. Yeah no shit who else would it be. When Mark doesn’t move, he shouts his name louder this time, probably thinking he had his headphones in. Mark straightens up as he makes his way into the living room. Mr. Lee’s hair is the first thing Mark notices. It’s a very bright cherry red, that can only mean it’s been freshly dyed, different from the platinum blonde Mark had seen him in a month ago. He’s dressed casually in all black attire apart from his red cross body pouch and Mark knows Mr. Lee cleared his schedule to come here. He just knows it because he can count the number of times Mr. Lee has visited him dressed casually on one hand. 

He sits down wordlessly next to Donghyuck whose facing Taeyong on the opposite side of the black couch. “Mark, how was class?” Mr. Lee asks him, meeting his eyes. “It was fine, first semester finals are coming up soon.” He answers and Taeyong nods. An awkward pause follows as the two wait for the other to speak first. Taeyong is looking at Mark and Mark can feel his eyes on him but he’s suddenly very interested in Taeyong’s choice of shoes, black Balenciagas with red detailing. 

Donghyuck clears his throat breaking the silence and Mark jumps slightly, startled. “Okay this is extremely awkward and I’ve become impatient. Can one of you start talking already?” Taeyong sighs quietly and finally takes his eyes off Mark.

“Mark, tell me about what happened last week.” 

“I found the kids, took them out of the house, and then we took the guys out. It looked as if they were looking for something rather than them going in to rob the place. There were too many men for that.” 

“How many were there?” Taeyong asks, and Donghyuck beats Mark to it. “Five.” He nods and Mark’s body relaxes thinking he’s out of the clear. 

“And I assume they were armed, correct?” He turns to look at the two and they both nod. “Is it wrong to assume that Donghyuck got hurt?” Mark freezes, his body tensing again, unsure if he should tell Mr. Lee the whole truth or just some of it but yet again, Donghyuck talks before Mark can. 

“I did.” Donghyuck replies, his voice nonchalant, as if it was no big deal and Mark considers it really isn’t, at least to him since he can heal himself. Taeyong nods slowly before he releases the breath he was unconsciously holding. 

“I didn't think I’d have to do this again, not after the last time Mark, but here I am. You know I’m responsible for you and I don’t mean in it a condescending or ruling matter, it’s just the truth. I don’t ask much of you nor do I limit you. I’ve never once told you to stop being spiderman and I never will because at the end of the day it’s your life Mark and I understand, trust me I really do. But what I need you to do is let me know whenever you’re about to put your life on the line.” Mark feels hot curling shame in the pit of his stomach, making his body burn. Mark tries to calm himself down because he knows that Taeyong means good and isn’t trying to be harsh or cruel. He could be speaking to him in a very different matter but he isn’t because Taeyong isn’t that type of person.

“Now, you know that I don’t need you to tell me every time you go out. I don’t want that. However, you do know how to choose your fights and if you know you could be severely injured, I need to be the first one to know. That being said, I’ve upgraded your suit. One of the new programs will allow me to know if you’re in danger, all you need to do is say ‘Danger Lee’. You understand?” He’s looking at Mark waiting for him to meet his eyes. 

Mark can hear the hidden message behind his words, loud and clear — Taeyong could have just as easily programmed his suit to tell him about Mark’s whereabouts at any moment...only he hadn’t. No. He had made a different program that allowed Mark to be the one to inform him, which meant that he still trusted Mark. It was a warning directed to him, to let Mark know that he was capable of making any adjustments to Mark’s suit whenever he saw it fit. 

Mark swallows hard, before looking up at Taeyong and nodding. Yeah, he’s heard the message loud and clear. 

“I’m not disappointed in you or anything like that Mark. I just want you to be honest with me about things like this. If something were to happen to you, you can’t recover like Donghyuck. Please be sure to remember that.” 

“Yeah, Mark you can’t be as awesome as me.” Donghyuck says, turning to look at Mark with a big ugly smile on his face. Mark shoves him and Donghyuck just laughs as he falls back onto the couch. “Would hardly call you awesome, you’re more along the lines of being horrible.” Mark tells him, Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at Mark in return. 

Donghyuck straightens up and turns to look at Taeyong. “Now that that’s out of the way, can I just say that I will never be a father for this exact reason? Can you imagine me scolding my kids? I’d just end up laughing.” Mark’s face grows hot at Donghyuck’s words, when he looks in Taeyong’s direction he sees that his cheeks are flushed, a rosy pink against his pale skin. 

“Chill the both of you, you’re both redder than my suit. Anyways can you have Jungwoo come over now? I need my clothes and weapons.” 

⋆⋆⋆

“You know, Taeyong cleared his schedule to come over?” Jungwoo tells them before biting into his pizza. “I assumed, judging by his clothes. He never comes over dressed like that.” 

Jungwoo nods at Mark’s words as he continues to chew. Jungwoo, just like Taeyong, had changed his head since the last time Mark had seen him. His orange hair was now a deep blue color that Mark thought fitted him very well. 

It’s late now, the sky dark with littered stars. Mark wasn’t really expecting Taeyong to stay, he thought he’d say what needed to be said and then leave but he’d ask Donghyuck if he was hungry. When Donghyuck said yes he’d called Jungwoo and asked him to come over with food and now they were there. 

“First of all, my plans were not all that important to begin with so I thought of cancelling them and coming over.” Taeyong tries to explain himself while he glares at Jungwoo. “That’s a lie. You’ve been speaking about this meeting for a while now. After I told you what Donghyuck said to me you didn’t even think twice before cancelling everything.” He continues and Taeyong smacks him in the back of his head which makes Jungwoo choke on his pizza. 

“Do you shut up?” He hisses at him as Jungwoo rubs his head. “Taeyong was worried about you.” Donghyuck coos at Mark, reaching over and pinching his cheeks. “Stop touching me,” Mark says as he pushes Donghyuck’s hand away. He ignores him and continues his attack on Mark, he groans and scoots his chair further away from Donghyuck. 

“Kids please, no fighting while eating dinner.” Taeyong says making Donghyuck and Mark look at him. “Did he just call us kids?” Donghyuck asks Mark, his expression incredulous. “I think so? I mean he was referring to us so yes.” 

“You’re both younger than me and you bicker like a couple of children,” 

“I mean you’re not wrong.” 

“He’s not, I think this is a sign you take Donghyuck with you.” Jungwoo and Taeyong smile at Mark like he just told them a funny joke.

“Nice try but he’s yours Mark.” Jungwoo says and Taeyong nods. Mark slumps into his chair, at least he tried. 

“Hyuck isn’t even that bad, he’s just really stubborn.” Jungwoo continues, Mark rolls his eyes. “That’s what you think, he makes a mess everywhere, complains about my cooking all the time, and he won’t stop trying to touch me because he knows I hate it.” 

“He’s just trying to warm up to you, Mark. Don’t be cold to him.” 

“Yeah, Markie. I’m just trying to be friends with you.” Donghyuck says as he smiles innocently at Mark. 

“No.” 

“As much as I enjoy this, we do have to get going.” Jungwoo says looking at Taeyong, he looks down at his watch and nods. “We do. I have a plane to catch later tonight.” Taeyong explains as he stands up. 

“Jungwoo has brought you your clothes and a couple more suits for good measure. Knowing how you choose to work, I’d say you’ll need them. He also brought you your katanas and some knives, although you’re not supposed to use them unless absolutely necessary. Your guns were left back at my house because I don’t think you’ll need them. He’s brought you a new phone and I took the liberty of getting you a new card since your last one had erm-holes in it from your injuries.” 

“Did you bring me my good knives?” Donghyuck asks. “Not sure what that’s supposed to mean but I just grabbed what looked nice. Plus it’s not like you’ll be using them since you’ve been put on a strict no killing ban.” Jungwoo replies before walking away, Mark assumes he’s going to go get the bags. 

“What the fuck? Since when?” Donghyuck exclaims looking at Taeyong. “Since I told you? But pretty much the moment you were brought here, really.” Mark replies instead and Donghyuck’s head turns so fast, Mark is getting whiplash from just seeing it happen.

“Oh, right I forgot about that.” 

“Well you be sure to remember it because I will not allow you to kill while you’re around Mark.” Taeyong says in a sternly voice and Mark is tempted to giggle because he’s trying to hard to look upset but he’s failing quite terribly. 

“Scared I’ll corrupt your golden boy, Taeyong?” 

Taeyong’s face changes at Donghyuck’s word, it twists until his lips are set into a straight line, his eyes are colder than Mark has ever seen them before, his eyebrows furrowed as he glares at Donghyuck. Suddenly Mark isn’t tempted to giggle anymore, how could he? Not when Taeyong is looking like all those magazines portray him to be. 

“It’d take a whole lot more than you to corrupt Mark,” he pauses as he watches the glint appear in Donghyuck’s eyes,”And I am not saying it as a challenge, Donghyuck. You touch Mark and you respond to me, he’s my responsibility.” Mark can’t help but shiver at Taeyong’s words while Donghyuck’s smile grows. 

“Yeah, whatever you say Taeyong.” 

“Hyung or Mr. Lee.” 

“Sure Mr. Lee,” Donghyuck says, rolling his eyes. Mark jabs his elbow into Donghyuck’s side earning a high pitched squeal from him as he clutches his injury. He’s glaring daggers at Mark but Mark is just looking at Taeyong, whose lost the cold look in his face and is now smiling warmly at him. 

Jungwoo chooses to come in at that exact moment, making the door hit the wall as he pushes inside before dropping everything on the floor. Donghyuck seems to forget all about his injury as he claps his hands before running over to the bags. 

He doesn’t waste any time as he begins to zip open the black sports bag, going through each one until he finds what he’s looking for. He reaches in eagerly and pulls out a hand knife, lifts it up closer to his face as he inspects it. After a second of squinting at it his body slumps in what Mark thinks is disappointment. 

“Man, you suck Jungwoo. You brought me ugly knives.” he whines while he points the knife at him. Jungwoo ignores him, turns around before walking out of the house. He comes back holding a sort of vest looking thing in one hand while the other holds two katanas. Mark’s never actually seen one in person before only in his video games so he makes a mental note to ask Donghyuck to see them later. 

“No killing, Donghyuck.” Jungwoo reminds him before handing them over to Donghyuck. 

Mark takes this moment to look up at Taeyong. “Do you think this is a good idea?” He asks him. Taeyong takes one last look at Donghyuck who’s currently caressing his sheathed katanas as if they were children before meeting Mark’s eyes. “Probably not.” He answers honestly. 

“He needs to have familiar items with him though. It’ll help him come to a conclusion whether or not he’ll join us.” He continues and Mark understands what he means so he nods. “Thank you again Mark for doing this. I know he’s a lot to handle, at least that’s what Kun told me, but I wouldn’t have given him to you if I knew you couldn’t handle him.” 

“I’ll keep trying my best, Mr. Lee.” 

“You know you can call me Taeyong, it doesn’t always have to be Mr. Lee.” 

“Yah! How come he gets to call you Taeyong?” Donghyuck yells. 

“Because you’re not my responsibility.” Taeyong answers simply as he ruffles Mark’s hair as a silent goodbye. 

⋆⋆⋆

“Isn’t that my hoodie?” Mark asks Donghyuck, squinting his eyes as he tries to make out whether it actually is or he’s just seeing things. He wouldn’t really blame himself if he were, he’d been bent over his laptop and textbooks for a few hours now. His eyes were tired and his head was pounding painfully. 

Donghyuck stops, looks down at it and shrugs before sitting down on the couch. “If it was, I guess it’s ours now,” He calls out. Mark watches him as he puts on his headphones and goes back to scrolling on his phone. 

“Well that’s great,” Mark mutters to himself as he turns back to look at his laptop. He’d really like some coffee right now, he knows it’d power him through finishing this paper that's due Wednesday, but it’s also getting late and Mark really needs the sleep. He glances at the time, seeing it’s close to eleven and decides to drink some tea as he pushes for another hour although he doesn’t know if he has it in him to do that.

As Mark is waiting for the water to boil his eyes trail around the white walls of the kitchen until he somehow lands on Donghyuck. He stares at his back before dropping his eyes to the marble countertop. He hasn’t really made an effort to talk to him lately, they hardly interact at all if it isn’t for food or to argue over whose turn it was to clean. Mark knows he should make an effort to talk to him so they can become closer but he just can’t find it in him to. Something about Donghyuck didn’t sit well with Mark and he didn’t like it. 

Maybe it was the way Donghyuck was so insistent in not becoming an Avenger or the way he carelessly carried himself knowing he was bound to come back alive. Mark had only known him for about a month now, yet he knew Donghyuck didn’t really care about getting hurt. He’d seen it since the first day he met him. Mark had seen it again the night of the house incident, Donghyuck had just walked in yelling at the robbers to come get him. It was unsettling to Mark seeing him just throw his life away. He couldn’t imagine taking hits just because he could. It was even worse knowing that every injury Donghyuck received hurt him, he could still feel all of it. Knowing he’d still feel pain and not even caring confused Mark. 

“Mark! Snap out of it already!” Donghyuck says clapping his hands next to Mark’s ears making him jump slightly, alarmed. He turns around so he’s leaning against the countertop as he stares at Donghyuck, brows furrowed. 

“How’d you get here without me hearing you?” Mark asks him. Mark should have been able to hear his steps or at least should have felt his body alert him of Donghyuck coming close enough to his ears but he hadn’t felt anything at all. 

Donghyuck is looking back at him with almost the same exact expression, “Dunno, just walked over I guess? You were just staring at the countertop and the kettle was making too much noise so I came over to turn it off.”

“I should have felt something, though. It’s weird because I always feel when someone is coming near me, my body just tells me.” 

“No offense Mark, but you’re really out of it, like when was the last time you slept early? The bags under your eyes are so sunken in that they have bags themselves. Jesus.” Donghyuck’s face has softened as his eyes look over him. 

“I sleep.” Mark replies feeling slightly offended, sure he hasn’t slept much lately but he’s slept and that’s what’s important. “Yeah, well I say you put whatever you’re working on until tomorrow and you go to sleep now. You really need it, dude.” 

Mark shakes his head and Donghyuck frowns. “I’m fine Donghyuck, really I am. I’m gonna work for another hour or so and then go sleep.” 

“You don’t even look like you can stand that long, Mark. Don’t be stubborn and just go to bed.” He’s crossed his arms in front of his chest and Mark thinks he looks like a little kid after being told no. 

“In an hour Donghyuck.” 

“Okay fine. Do whatever you want.” He says turning around and walks back to the couch without giving Mark another glace. It’s closer to stomping but Mark is more amused than anything as he watches him. He really does resemble a little kid throwing a tantrum. 

Mark acknowledges Donghyuck was right after he takes a sip of his still too hot Chamomile tea. As he feels his body begin to warm up with the tea he knows he’s in deep shit. 

Maybe making Chamomile tea wasn’t one of his best choices he made tonight. Well, it’s too late now. 

He runs a hand down his face trying to rid himself of feeling sleepy and thinks it’s worked until he feels something poke his cheek. His nose scrunches as he tries to ignore the sensation because he’s working for god’s sake ...only he’s not? 

He opens his eyes eyes slightly and realizes his face is pressed onto one of his textbooks. When did that happen? 

“Told you you wouldn’t last.” Donghyuck says to him as he pokes his cheek again with his index finger. Mark hums, a low sound in the back of his throat, but otherwise doesn’t respond. His eyes have closed again and he’s trying to not fall asleep again (and failing quite terribly).

“Mark, c’mon! Your neck is gonna hurt if you sleep like that, let's get you into your bed.” Donghyuck whispers shaking his shoulder and Mark tries to lift his head to show him he’s awake only it’s hard to with sleep fogging his mind. Mark faintly hears Donghyuck sigh which pushes him to try harder. After what feels like a few minutes, but in reality was probably only seconds, Mark managed to lift his head and semi-open his eyes. 

Donghyuck takes this opportunity to help Mark stand and doesn’t hesitate to lead him towards his room. Everything is a blur to Mark, one moment he was still at the kitchen table and the next he was being dropped onto his bed. He doesn’t complain, doesn’t even open his eyes, he just drags his body further up the bed until his head is resting on his pillow. 

He can faintly hear Donghyuck shuffling around the room, probably looking for something, but Mark doesn’t have it in him to see what he’s actually doing. It’s only when he hears Donghyuck stop in front of his bedside table that he deems worthy of losing his last bit of energy. 

“On,” he whispers without opening his eyes, Donghyuck is close enough to have heard him clearly yet he still lets out a soft, “What?” 

“Lamp...leave it on.” 

Donghyuck nods before realizing that Mark can’t see him so he says, “Okay,” and watches as Mark’s face relaxes after hearing it. 

By the time Donghyuck drapes a blanket over him, Mark is fast asleep.

⋆⋆⋆

“Mark wake up.” He doesn’t move and he can hear a loud groan before his arm is pulled, making him groan in pain from the harsh movement. His eyes snap open, closing almost as immediately from the bright light shining through his windows. He turns around so his back is facing the light and tries to go back to sleep. 

“Mark! C’mon, your annoying ass phone won’t stop vibrating. You’re gonna be late for class.” 

Mark wills himself to sit up in his bed, rubbing his eyes to get the sleep out of them. Once he swears he can faintly see stars he drops his hands and opens his eyes. 

“Woah, Sleeping Beauty's awoken and I didn’t even have to kiss him awake.” 

“Shut up,” He croaks out as he searches for Donghyuck. He finds him sitting on the corner of his bed, still wearing his hoodie, his hair sticking up every other way, wearing his trademark big ugly smile, the one Mark finds the most obnoxious. 

“What? Upset about not getting kissed? Don’t worry, if you ask me nicely I might just give you one.” 

Mark glares at him and Donghyuck’s smile just grows. “I hate you.” 

“Whatever you say Mark, just keep talking to me. You know I find your morning voice hot.” 

Mark grabs one of his pillows and doesn’t hesitate to throw it at Donghyuck, it hits his chest and makes him laugh. 

“Get out the fuck out.” 

He leaves only after Mark lunges toward him, after Donghyuck asks him if he had any wood he needing taking care of. 

Once he’s left alone in his room, Mark checks the time to see it’s past noon, meaning he has an hour or so until his first class of the day. He’s slightly shocked that he slept so long but after so many nights of barely sleeping it was bound to happen. 

Glancing over to his bedside table he can see that the lamp was still on and his heart clenches uncomfortably. He has no memory of waking up to turn it on or asking Donghyuck to leave it on but it’s on, so it must’ve been the latter. Donghyuck hadn’t asked him about it and Mark can’t help himself by feeling glad because he wasn’t ready to talk about it with him. He probably would never be considering how their relationship was. 

Mark shakes his head, as if he could physically shake the thoughts away, before getting off his bed. He stretches trying to awaken his muscles but gives up after a few seconds, lazily making his way to his bathroom to brush his teeth and shower. 

When Mark steps out of his room, freshly showered and changed, he can smell food cooking which makes his eyebrows raise. Donghyuck must be cooking himself some breakfast seeing as he looked like he himself had just woken up along with Mark. And sure enough when Mark walks into the kitchen Donghyuck is busying himself by beating some eggs while he watches over the pan on the stove. Mark walks over to the refrigerator, meaning to get one of his pressed juices he usually has for breakfast when he’s in a hurry, but Donghyuck clicks his tongue at him and motions him to sit down at the table.

Mark must look confused because Donghyuck rolls his eyes, “I’m making you breakfast, sit your ass down Lee.” He turns back to the stove and Mark wordlessly walks himself over to the table where he sits down. His textbooks are stacked neatly in the middle with his notebooks and pencil case on top of them. 

Mark is looking at them when Donghyuck places a plate of food in front of him, walking back to the kitchen. He comes back a moment later with his own plate in one hand, the other holding one of those sugary coffee drinks he likes so much. Donghyuck doesn’t say anything to Mark as he sits down and begins to eat. Mark doesn’t even realize he’s staring until Donghyuck’s eyes lock with his own. 

“What? Do I have something on my face or something?” he asks and Mark‘s face feel hot, “No?” he replies, only it comes out sounding like a question and Donghyuck’s lips turn up slightly, as if he were trying not to smile. 

“Oh? Then were you just admiring your view or something? Wouldn’t blame you if I was you, I mean considering the way I look.” 

“Really, Donghyuck?” 

“Honestly, Mark. I’ll just have to admire you back. You made it pretty easy with your wet hair.” He says sending Mark a smile before he begins eating again. Now Mark’s face burns and he’s pretty sure his ears are hot as well. 

“I-I wasn’t looking at you! I mean...I kind of was but I didn’t mean to! I swear, I was just wondering why you cooked for me too?” Mark scrambles to say, his eyes on the plate of food. 

“We’re both awake, both hungry, why wouldn’t I make you food? Especially since you’ll be gone until later and knowing you, you’d run on that stupid pressed juice until you got home.” 

“Thanks, Donghyuck.” He says, finally shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth. He misses the way Donghyuck smiles at him, the big ugly one that showcases his top row of teeth and makes his eyes almost close. 

“You’re welcome Markie”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!!!! It’s me again :D 
> 
> Okay so to clear things up incase anyone is confused,,  
> mark-spiderman  
> donghyuck-deadpool  
> taeyong-ironman  
> jungwoo-happy 
> 
> thats the list of characters you’ve been introduced to so far. i’ll update the list whenever someone new is introduced just to make sure everyone is clear on who’s who sjhdjsk Anyways I hope you like the chapter, I tried to make it longer than usual, I’m sorry if it’s not as exciting as the others? It was pretty Mark based? rather than spidey based but it’s necessary to get to know both sides of Mark so yeah :) please let me know what you thought of it!! your comments really motivate me to want to continue writing !! see you next week


	5. dirty rags and heavy conversations

There are twenty minutes left in Mark’s lecture, his professor going on about bromine and mercury when his phone screen lights up. His eyes flicker down staring at the lit screen seeing Donghyuck’s name on the screen. He watches the call end and is about to start to listen to his professor again when Donghyuck calls him again making his brows furrow in confusion. Donghyuck never calls him when he’s in class, he knows Mark wouldn’t answer. The call ends and his screen goes dark after a few seconds, only for it to light up again. At this point, Mark isn’t paying attention to his professor anymore, all his attention on his phone, everything else white noise in the background. 

This time when the call ends, he almost immediately gets a notification of a new voicemail in his inbox. Donghyuck. 

His hands move faster than his brain, one already reaching for his airpod case and the other grabbing his phone. His fingers drum against the mini-disk as he impatiently waits for them to connect. Once they do, he doesn’t waste any time pressing on the voicemail notification, listening to the operator instruct him on what numbers to press, and finally hears Donghyuck’s voice greet him. 

His voice is muffled as if he were running and Mark struggles to understand what he’s saying. He presses nine and closes his eyes in hopes of hearing better. 

“And--road… house is… bricks” There’s a slight pause before something is muttered into the line and then it cuts off. 

He presses nine again. And again. And Again. It’s only after the fifth time listening to the voicemail he finally understands what Donghyuck was trying to say. 

“Andover road… house is massive with yellow bricks,” He still doesn’t understand what he murmured at the end but it doesn’t matter. Mark knows where to go. He ends the call and looks at the time. There’s still ten minutes left. 

He grabs his notebook shoving it into his backpack, ignoring the looks he gets when he loses it. He pushes down the mini desk and sets his backpack on his lap, ready to leave as soon as his professor gives the clear. And sure enough, before his professor can finish saying goodbye Mark is already halfway out the door. He makes a mental note to give his professor some sort of apology gift the next time he sees him. 

Mark practically runs to his car, starting it up and driving off. It’ll take him at least ten minutes to get there, five if he speeds and after a moment of considering his options he presses down on the pedal, his car shooting forward. He parks his car a street behind, making sure no one is outside and scrambles to put on his suit before he’s off. 

When he gets to the house, the door is wide open and Mark feels something build in his throat, making it hard to swallow. He steps into the house, it's dim, the air stained with something Mark can’t exactly put his finger on, and it’s quiet. He passes by the living room, the furniture in disarray some flipped others torn with foam slipping out. It’s not until he gets to the kitchen that he finds someone. 

The man is lying face down on the kitchen tile, there’s some blood smeared and Mark crouches down pressing his fingers to the man’s neck. There’s nothing at first but after a few seconds Mark can make out a faint thud against his fingers. He breathes out, relieved. He moves the man so he’s leaning against the kitchen island before webbing him. As he’s straightening up, he feels a chill run through his body and he’s moving before he even hears the soft rustling. Mark follows the noise, leading him toward the stairs. There he finds another man trying to lift himself up from the space right before the stairs. 

He isn’t aware of Mark’s presence until Mark grabs his arm, twisting it behind his back earning a loud groan of pain from the intruder. The man doesn’t even fight Mark as he moves and webs him, only letting out whimpers when Mark grabs his leg. He guesses it might be sprained by the way the man can hardly stand any pressure on it. Once Mark is sure of him not escaping he makes his way up the stairs. 

He’s greeted with more ripped furniture and papers everywhere. It reminds Mark of the other house with the kids. The house is thrown around as if they were looking for something. Mark finds two other men unconscious, quickly webbing them after making sure they were still alive. It only until he’s in the far end of the left side of the hallway when he hears a quiet rustling in one of the rooms. He makes his way toward the door, trying to open it but finding it locked. The rustling stops and Mark can hear hushed whispering.

“Don-Deadpool?” He breathes out against the door. There’s a pause before soft steps fill Mark’s ears. 

“Spiderman? Is that you?” 

“Yes,” Mark replies, nodding as if they could see him. 

“Yeah? Then what’s Deadpool’s name?” 

“What?” 

“If you’re really Spiderman then you’d know his name, he said you would.” There’s more shuffling and now Mark can tell there are two people in the room. 

“Oh. Yeah, sure. He’s Donghyuck.” 

There’s a click as the lock opens and the door is opened. There’s a lady, probably in her mid-twenties, with a little girl hiding behind her legs. The lady’s hair is messy, her cheeks are tear-stained, a cut high on her cheekbone. Her clothes are wrinkled and Mark can see her body shaking slightly. 

“See! I told you he’d come! Mr. Deadpool said he would. He promised me!” The little girl exclaims, peeking her head from behind the lady. The only thing showing is her blonde curly hair, and half of her face, big blue eyes staring up at Mark. 

“Yes, Sofia he did.” Her voice is high and throaty, a show tell sign of crying. She glances back down at the little girl, Sofia, before looking back at Mark. “Where is he? Is he okay?” 

“Donghyuck?” She nods and Mark stares at her. “I don’t know? Where’d he go?” 

“Mister Spiderman? He went to go fight the bad men,” the little girl says and Mark crouches down so he’s at level with her. 

“Did he?” He asks her and she nods, making her pigtails bop behind her. “Can you tell me what he said to you?” 

Her brows furrow as she tries to think and Mark smiles as he watches her, even if she can’t see him. “Ummmm, he told us to come in here when he found us. Right, Jess?” She pauses and looks up to the lady, Jess, waits for her to nod before her blue eyes settle on Mark again.

“I was crying and he told me you’d come! He said, don’t cry Spiderman will be here soon! He pinky promised me and then told us to wait here for you. Lock ourselves in and wait for you to come!” 

“Was he okay when you saw him?” 

“He was bleeding but when I asked him if he was alright, he told me to not worry about it.” Jess answers and Mark tilts his head back to look at Jess. Sounds like Donghyuck, Mark thinks to himself. “He had already taken down some of the men when he found us. They had us tied up but he freed us and rushed us up here.” 

“Do you know where he could’ve gone? The house is pretty big and I didn’t finish looking at all of downstairs.” 

“I’m not sure, we heard a lot of noise earlier toward the other side of the house.” Mark nods and looks back down at Sofia. “I’m gonna go look for him, okay? You two stay here and I’ll come back for you once I have him.” She nods, her lower lip slightly jutting out in a pout. 

“It’s okay, nothing will happen now that we’re both here.” He reaches out and boops her nose, her face scrunches up before she giggles. 

Mark stands up, looks at them once more and turns around beginning to walk toward the other side of the house, hearing the door close behind him. 

As he walks, he starts to notice the trail of blood on the wooden floor and begins to follow it. It takes him to a room that’s slightly ajar, a boot peeking out. Mark pushes open the door and finds another man on the floor, unconscious. He glances around, taking in the mess of the room before webbing the man’s hands and feet. 

The trail of blood continues toward another room and Mark follows it. It’s been the biggest room Mark has stepped into so far, probably the master bedroom. He steps into the room and comes face to two men unconscious on the floor and…Donghyuck. 

“Donghyuck?” He breathes out watching for some type of response from him but doesn’t get anything. He walks over quickly, dropping down onto his knees as he grabs his shoulder and shakes him. “Donghyuck? Hey, c’ mon wake up!” His body is limp and Mark is trying not to freak out because Donghyuck won’t respond. 

“Dude, seriously! You have to wake up!” At this point, Mark’s hands are on either shoulder as he continues to shake him. “Taeyong is gonna be pissed if you die,” He mutters, more to himself than Donghyuck, but after a beat Donghyuck coughs and Mark stops shaking him as he watches him. “Donghyuck?” 

“And here I thought you were worried about me but it’s just Taeyong you’re scared of,” Donghyuck says, his voice deep and Mark is still frozen for a second before he shoves Donghyuck. He stumbles back and Mark grabs his arm to make sure he doesn’t fall back. “You were awake?” Mark asks, incredulously. 

“Yeah, wanted to see how you’d react.” Donghyuck pulls at his arm in Mark’s hold making mark release it, he wraps it around his stomach. “Yo-you’re sick in the head.” Donghyuck tries to laugh at that but ends up coughing, clutching at his stomach. 

“You sure took your time, Spidey.” His voice wavers and Mark feels his stomach twist at his words. “I couldn’t leave class but I rushed here as soon as it ended,” Mark explains and Donghyuck sighs. “I was joking, dude...well sort of.” 

“You’re alright, though?” Mark asks looking over Donghyuck’s body. He can’t see any of his injuries because he’s in his suit. 

“One of the bitches stabbed me a couple of times. They were all carrying silencers, I probably got shot but I can’t really tell, all the pain kind of blurred after a while. Help me stand, will you?” He says as he offers Mark his hand. Mark stands up before taking his hand and pulling him up. Donghyuck stumbles up and almost immediately falls into Mark who scrambles to wrap an arm around his torso to balance him. Donghyuck leans into him, putting most of his weight onto Mark as Mark begins to walk toward the massive bed. 

He helps him sit on the bed before Mark takes a step back and looks at Donghyuck. “This isn’t gonna work,” He tells him. 

“What isn’t going to work?” Donghyuck asks him confused. “Us walking like that. It’ll take too much time, just-just get on my back and I’ll carry you to my car.” Mark explains and Donghyuck just nods so Mark turns around, crouches down and waits for Donghyuck to get on. After a moment, Donghyuck scoots forward on the bed so he can wrap his arms around Mark’s neck and legs around Mark’s torso. Mark stumbles forward and thinks he’s going to fall before he balances himself and reaches down to put his hands behind Donghyuck’s knees. 

They don’t say anything until they reach the room where Jess and Sofia are in. Donghyuck knocks on the door before saying, “Sofia? It’s me, Donghyuck! Open up, sweetie.” There’s shuffling and then the door swings open. 

“Mister Deadpool!” She exclaims, smiling up at them. “You’re okay right?” He asks and Sofia nods. 

“Spiderman came just like you said he would!”

“Of course, I told you he would. He’s a friend of mine, aren’t you Spidey?” Donghyuck says as he nuzzles into Mark’s neck. Mark resists the urge to shiver at the feeling, and just tightens his hold on Donghyuck. “Um, I guess,” Mark mutters and Sofia’s smile widens at his words. 

“You two are besties! That’s so cute!” Jess walks over and pats Sofia’s head before she turns to look at Mark and Donghyuck. 

“We have to go but I would prefer you to wait outside,” Mark says and Jess just nods as she scoops Sofia into her arms. 

“Sofia, we’re going to wait for the police outside okay? When they get here I’ll call your parents.” She tells Sofia and Sofia nods holding onto her shirt. “You close your eyes, Sofia. I’ll tell you when to open them,” Donghyuck says into Mark’s neck. 

“Okay.” She agrees, closing her eyes and hiding her face in Jess’s neck. With that, they all make their way downstairs and out the door before Donghyuck gives Sofia the clear to open her eyes. The two say goodbye to them before walking to Mark’s car. 

“You must be glad I made you breakfast today, huh? It was such an exciting day,” Donghyuck murmurs sleepily to Mark helps him get into the backseat of his car. 

⋆⋆⋆

“Donghyuck, wake up!” Mark yells exasperated. It’s been ten minutes since they got to the house and he’s been trying to wake up Donghyuck with no luck. He watches as Donghyuck’s nose scrunches up slightly and he opens his eyes, blinking sleepily as he tries to focus on Mark. 

“C’mon, I’ll take you inside. Can you hold on tight?” He asks Donghyuck who nods and opens his arms waiting for Mark to turn around. Once he does Donghyuck latches onto him, resting his head on Mark’s shoulder. Mark struggles to open the front door but after the second attempt, he manages to insert their key in correctly and push the door. 

Mark takes him to the bathroom, sitting him down on the toilet so he can take his mask off. He scans over Donghyuck’s face, taking inventory of the bruises and busted lip. Mark doesn’t say anything as he begins to fill the tub with warm water, nor does he say anything as he helps Donghyuck undress and get into the bathtub. It’s only after Mark’s left and come back with the first aid kit and a rag in hand, that he finally speaks. 

“Is it always going to be like this?” Mark murmurs as he rummages through the kit. There’s a long minute of silence before Donghyuck asks, “Like what?” 

“Are you always going to put yourself in danger just because you can?” 

“What?” Donghyuck breathes out, his face is scrunched up and he’s not sure if it’s because of the buzz of pain he’s currently in or because of Mark being cryptic. Donghyuck’s gaze is heavy on Mark but he refuses to meet his eyes, opting to stare down at his hands, even as he crouches down next to Donghyuck. 

“It’s only our third time of us ‘working together’ and at the end of each one, it always the same result.” Mark opens the bottle of alcohol and soaks the rag with it. “You put your life at stake and end up injured to death with me to patch you back up.” 

Mark doesn’t even know why he’s angry, he just knows the feeling all too well building in his stomach and chest, making it difficult to breathe. He leans over and presses the rag to one of the bullet holes and waits for Donghyuck to work his magic. Waits until he feels Donghyuck’s body tense beneath his hand and the bullet to hit his palm before he pulls back. Donghyuck pants fill the silence as Mark stares at the bloody rag. 

“Are you serious?” Donghyuck spits out as soon as he stops panting, his voice angry. “How am I any different than you? You do the same thing as me every time you go out as Spiderman.” Mark’s head shoots up at his words, finally meeting Donghyuck’s eyes. 

“It is not the same thing and you know it.” 

Donghyuck chuckles, shakes his head and looks at Mark incredulously. “You’re seriously going to sit there and tell me you don’t risk your life as Spiderman? That’s some bullshit, Mark. I didn’t take Taeyong’s golden child to be a fucking liar.” 

“I don’t risk my life like you do, Donghyuck. You take hits just because you can.” Mark lets the bullet drop onto the floor, it hits the tile as Mark presses the rag onto another bullet wound. 

“You think I take hits just because I can? That’s what you think?” He asks in disbelief but Mark doesn’t say anything, just presses the rag harder. “You’re fucking sick, Mark. I wouldn’t put myself through all this pain just because I can. I’m not some type of masochist.” Donghyuck grits out as his body tenses and he tries to not let out any type of noise that would indicate he was in pain. It was futile though because Mark knows doing this hurts like a son of a bitch. 

“I’m not saying you’re a masochist. I’m just pointing out the fact you keep getting hurt when you don’t need to be.” 

“Yeah? You were a lot of help weren’t you, taking down seven guys alone.” That’s a low blow, even for Donghyuck. It just makes Mark angrier because it sounds like Donghyuck is blaming him for this. 

“You know I was in class, I couldn’t just walk out.” 

“Of course you couldn’t, being the golden child and all.” Donghyuck murmurs, closing his eyes as he tries to push away the fuzziness surrounding his brain. It’d be so easy for him to just sleep and let his body heal himself alone but he needs to finish this conversation. 

“Can you stop calling me that, I’m not a golden child.” 

“You can deny it all you want but at the end of the day you’re still one.” His words almost sound bitter and Mark can’t help but feel like he’s missing something. 

“You know what? Fuck you, you’re impossible.” Mark drops the rag with the other bullet onto the floor as he reaches for the other rag he brought. He wets it with alcohol before dragging it harshly against the open skin. Donghyuck winces from the sting which makes Mark feel bad so he lessens his hold as he tries to gently clean the wounds. 

“You know what?” Donghyuck parrots Mark, “If you weren’t such an asshole, I’d almost think you were worried about me dying.” 

He’s tense as Mark cleans the harsh gashes on his stomach. They fall back into silence, the air heavy with tension and Mark feels uncomfortable. “You know I can’t die right? I’ll come back from anything, so you don’t have to stress about Taeyong killing you or anything. I’ll always end up fine in the end.” His words are quiet and slurred, and Mark almost thinks he’s imagined it only Donghyuck keeps talking. 

“I’ve died more times than I can remember, from crazy-ass things but I came back every time. There’s no reversing what happened to me.” 

“It doesn’t make it any better, Donghyuck.” 

“No,” Donghyuck agrees, “but you don’t have to act all mother hen on me. I’m going to get hurt and that’s just how it’s going to work. If you don’t like it, that sucks but you’re going to have to learn to live with it.” 

He opens his eyes and immediately searches for Mark’s. “And if you don’t like patching me up then that’s fine as well, I’ll just handle it from now on so you don’t have to worry about doing it anymore. I won’t bother you.” 

“It’s not a bother. Just- try not to kill yourself every time we have to go out there like them, alright?” Mark waits for Donghyuck to nod and after a while tilts his chin back in a silent agreement that Mark accepts. 

“You know you still have to call Taeyong and tell him about this right?” Donghyuck reminds Mark as he helps him wash his hair. Mark’s fingers stop massaging his scalp and he lets out a groan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi !!!! It's me again :D Okay, first of all, I want to apologize for being late on this week's update. I started school this week and I've been trying to get back into the role of things so I didn't have much time to write. I will most likely be changing my "updating schedule" to the weekends because that way I can write freely. Anyways I also apologize if that chapter is boring? It isn't my favorite thing I've written but it'll have to do. Please leave me your thoughts below, see you guys next week


	6. growing uneasiness

Mark’s eyes are closed as he hums quietly to himself, waiting for Taeyong to pick up the call. It’s been ringing for a few seconds and Mark is about to hang up when the call goes through. There’s some loud rustling noise that makes Mark’s nose scrunch up before he hears a very loud, “Hello?” 

“Hello?” Mark parrots, confused. The person who answered can not possibly be Taeyong. The voice is all wrong, it’s too deep and loud, not the usual soft and velvety of Taeyong. “Who is this?” He asks and there’s more rustling, loud enough for Mark to pull the phone away from his ear a bit. 

“Son of Lee! I’ve heard so much of you! I’m Yukhei, Son of Odin, God of Thunder.” His booming voice sounds through the receiver. It takes a moment for Mark’s hazy mind to wrap around the new information presented to him. Yukhei? God of thunder? As in the God of thunder? 

“Mr. Yukhei?” 

“Yes! You do know of me?” He asks, the background making it very hard to hear as it cuts his words. “Yes, of course I do sir.”

“Very well, Mark.” 

“Sir, take no offense but why do you have Mr. Lee’s phone?” Mark asks and right on cue Mark hears a loud whine in the background. 

“Taeyong is not in his right state of mind currently. He’s heavily intoxicated with a number things right now.” Yukhei replies calmly and Mark’s eyes open. 

“Intoxicated? As in drunk?” 

“Correct. Would you still like to talk to him?” No, Yukhei I would not like to talk to him right now. Instead of saying that, Mark asks, “Why is he drunk? Is he okay?” 

“Yes Son of Lee, he is fine. He’s just a bit sad over a dumb quarell he had with Jaehyun earlier and decided I’d be good company. I wish he would have informed me of his horrible drinking habits prior to asking but there’s little we can do now.” 

“Okay well, could you let him know I called? Tomorrow when he wakes up so he can know I tried telling him of my Spiderman adventure of the day.” Mark stops and thinks before continuing, “I’m not sure how you handle hangovers in your world but here on earth we drink some painkillers the day after, alright?” 

Yukhei laughs, “You’re funny, Mark. We Asgardians do not get ‘hangovers’ as we are not pathetic enough to be lightweights.” 

“Well, just make sure he drinks plenty of water and gets some sleep.” He glances over to his alarm, the red 1:27 AM blinking back at him. “It’s late.” 

“You are kind, Mark lee. I can see why Taeyong is so fond of you, I hope we can meet soon.” His voice has quieted down, far less louder than how he had first initially talked through the phone. 

“Yeah, whenever Taeyong comes over you are welcome to tag along,” Mark replies, trying to stifle a yawn but failing, horribly. 

“Awesome. I must now go speak with the pilot on where it is to be where we land. Don’t worry, I will take care of our Taeyong, rest easy.” He says and Mark can hear Taeyong in the background, singing? 

“Thank you, goodnight.” Mark whispers into the line, yawning quietly again. 

“Goodnight.” The line goes dead and with it, Mark falls asleep soon after. 

⋆⋆⋆

Donghyuck is avoiding Mark. 

Maybe avoiding isn’t actually the correct word for what Donghyuck is doing but it sure feels like it to Mark. It was subtle things at first like listening to Mark speak more rather than talking himself, going to sleep earlier than usual, spending more time in his room rather than the couch like he usually did. Honestly, Mark hadn’t even thought much of it the first few days but after a full day goes by without seeing Donghyuck at all he knew something was wrong. 

Mark isn’t stupid, he’s far from it. Which is why he knows Donghyuck is avoiding him because of the comment he made to him. Mark hadn’t been thinking very clearly then, running on anger and sleepiness, letting his mouth run. He regrets it now, not what he had said but rather his timing. It seemed to have hit Donghyuck harder than Mark had expected and now here he was dealing with it. 

Only he’s not dealing with it. He’s running away from it.

He avoids the house like a plague. Opting to stay at his university’s library to complete any homework, going out as Spiderman for nightly patrols, even going as far as making an effort to become friends with the blue haired guy in his math class. 

Mark can’t help but feel frustrated, almost angry. The frustration of evading his own house in an attempt to slow the uneasiness from choking him. Yet, Mark can’t stop the feeling from growing in his chest. Filling his whole body, bit by bit, settling deep into his lungs and making it hard for him to breathe. 

He knows he could end it at any moment, this thing Donghyuck and him have going on. All it would take would be for Mark to step into Donghyuck’s room and just… talk to him. But Mark is stubborn and refuses to beg for his attention. If Donghyuck wanted to live the rest of his time here tiptoeing around Mark then so be it. Mark wouldn’t be doing anything to change his mind. 

He’s so deep in thought, everything a blur around him, when he feels a cold sweat break throughout his body, the small hairs on his neck stand up. He’s on the ground before he can even think about what just happened, his instincts taking over to protect him. Mark looks up, just barely making out the shape of an arrow stuck to the roof where he was just moments ago, before he hears it. The hiss of an arrow flying through the air. 

Once again, his body reacts faster than his mind and he’s across from where he stood before he can finish blinking. Only as soon as he straightens he hears another hiss. This time it’s Mark who reacts, running before webbing his way through the buildings. He can hear the hisses of arrows increase as they keep missing his target. 

Mark realizes he can’t go home, not when he’s being chased. His only option is to lose the archer or take him down. Mark is turning corners and corners in hopes of losing them only the arrows keep flying and grow in quantity. He’s panting at this point, blood rushing through his body, making his ears ring as he tries to think of which routes to take. 

Just as his left arm extends to shoot a web out he feels a pinching sensation run through him and hand jerks involuntary. Mark stumbles forward in the air as his web goes flying in the air, missing the building Mark was aiming at and then he’s falling. 

He ignores the throbbing in his left arm as he pushes himself to extend it, his teeth are gritted and he can’t really see anything but his body lurches forward as his web lands. He exhales roughly in relief as he stops falling. 

His relief was only short lived as Mark only gets a few more swings before he feels a sharp stab on his back. His teeth clamp down on his lower lip as he tries to ignore the pain. The son of a bitch managed to get a hit on him. 

He keeps webbing, turning corner after corner, successfully losing the archer at one point but continuing his webbing until he can’t ignore the stinging anymore and has to drop down into a dark alley. Mark takes a second to breathe out, trying to calm down his erratic breathing, his eyes clenched shut. He stays like that for a few minutes, until his breathing is somewhat normal before he opens his eyes, blinking- trying to adjust to the darkness. 

Mark looks down at his left arm, seeing the suit’s fabric torn, the edges stained with blood. There’s a long gash, red and ugly, from where one of the arrows nicked him. He clenches his arm with his other hand, assessing the gash but after a couple looks he deems it okay. It’s not that deep, he’ll be fine after he cleans it and wraps it up.

Mark then strains his neck to look at his back and comes to face with an arrow. It’s deep enough to still be stuck on his back which means Mark shouldn’t take it out yet. He’d have to wait until he got back home so he could make sure everything was fine. Still, he reaches a hand back to touch the arrow, wincing as a sharp pain shoots through his back. Yeah, definitely not taking it out right now. 

He takes one last look at it before turning his neck back, his eyes drop down to his lap. His forehead is throbbing, his vision just slightly blurry, but he still stands up. He needs to get home but first-- he needs to figure out where he is. 

⋆⋆⋆

It’s later when Mark finally drops down at the house. He had taken some time to web around to ensure the archer wasn’t following him. When he had deemed he wasn’t being followed he had made his way home. Mark can see the lights are still on, getting slightly annoyed at the fact that Donghyuck hadn’t even bothered to leave his room to turn them off. 

He waits until he’s in the house, the door shut firmly behind him, to finally take off his mask. He lets it drops down onto the floor as he closes his eyes momentarily to breathe in. He hears the heavy padding against the floor before he actually sees him. 

“Mark what the fuck?” Donghyuck says loudly, making Mark’s eyes snap open. They land on an angry looking Donghyuck, he’s wearing a hoodie too big for him that Mark recognizes is his, with shorts and high fluffy socks. His hair is messy, almost as if he had ran his hand through it one too many times, his eyebrows pulled together, lips turned down in a scowl as he glares at Mark. 

“Well? What the fuck?”

“What?” Mark breathes out, confused on why Donghyuck looks and sounds so angry. He hasn’t seen him in days, much less talked to him, and their first conversation is with Donghyuck mad at him. Shouldn’t he have gotten over it yet? 

“It’s past midnight, Mark. What the fuck were you doing out so late? You always come back before eleven.” 

Before Mark even has a chance to answer, Donghyuck’s eyes zoom onto his left arm, taking in the ripped fabric and the gash. He stomps over, grabbing onto Mark’s arm as he takes a closer look at it. Mark winces as Donghyuck grips his arm, turning slightly and Donghyuck looks behind him. He tightens his grip on Mark as he turns him around taking in the arrow protruding out of Mark’s back. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. You got hurt? And didn’t think to call Taeyong? Didn’t call me?” His voice lower than before and Mark realizes he sounds even angrier, if that’s even possible. 

“I don’t take my phone when I go out,” Mark explains and he hears Donghyuck scoff behind his back. “Taeyong built that shit into your suit. You could have activated it to alert him.” 

“Didn’t want to worry him over something like this.” Donghyuck’s fingers tightened again, and Mark can barely feel his arm from how hard Donghyuck’s grip is, his arm numb. Yet, he doesn’t complain just lets Donghyuck keep gripping it. 

“You’re unbelievable,” Donghyuck whispers, and turns Mark again so they’re face to face. With Donghyuck looking up at him, his eyes clouded with something Mark can’t put his finger on. “Just a week ago you were complaining about me getting unnecessarily hurt and yet you come home like this? With a bloody arm and arrow sticking out of you? You didn’t even call anyone.” 

“At least when I get hurt, it’s always with someone around but you? What? Do you think you don’t need help or something?” 

“Why are you so upset?” Mark asks, his eyes looking over Donghyuck’s face, trying to understand what is going on. “I’m fine, I’m not going to die from these.” 

Donghyuck shakes his head, his eyes dropping from Mark’s. “You don’t get it.” 

Mark’s eyebrows furrow, his head is swimming slightly but he tries to focus on Donghyuck, on Donghyuck’s words. “Don’t get what, Donghyuck? Tell me, I can’t read your mind. You have to tell me what’s bothering you.” He scans over Donghyuck’s face, looking for any sign that could tell him what’s wrong but doesn’t find anything.

Donghyuck is silent, only their breath filling the heavy silence. When Donghyuck finally looks up, his eyes are no longer clouded, just dark. He breathes out slowly through his nose before his grip on Mark’s arm losens. 

“It’s nothing, let’s go look at your wounds.” His hand drops from Mark’s arm, moves himself so he’s on Mark’s right side before he capture’s Mark’s hand in his. Donghyuck takes a step forward trying to pull Mark with him only Mark stands his ground. Donghyuck looks back at him, confusion on his face. 

“Donghyuck,” Mark breathes out and Donghyuck’s face stiffens. “Tell me.” 

“Forget it, Mark. I said it was nothing, now let’s go.” Mark looks over Donghyuck’s face, noticing the way he bites his lower lip and avoids Mark’s eyes. This time when Donghyuck pulls at Mark’s arm he lets himself be pulled and they make their way up the stairs, toward Mark’s room. 

⋆⋆⋆

“This is probably going to hurt,” Donghyuck tells Mark before he begins to dab at the gash on his arm. And sure enough, it does hurt like a bitch but Mark just grits his teeth and watches the way Donghyuck tries to be as gentle as he can. 

They’re sitting on Mark’s bedroom floor, a towel laid out underneath them in case any bleeding happens. Mark is out of his suit, shirtless as Donghyuck treats his wounds. Donghyuck had managed to take out the arrow already, relieved when Mark hadn’t begun to bleed too heavily. Now all that was left was to clean out the gash and bandage the wounds. 

“So did you see who did this?” Donghyuck asks as he stops to wet the rag with more alcohol. “No, they just started shooting at me out of nowhere. I webbed out of there and they continued to follow me until I lost them.” 

“Followed you?” 

“Yeah, more arrows started firing. Surprising actually, because they were able to keep up with me, even in the dark.” 

“Well whoever it was knew how to shoot if they managed to land one on you while you were in the air.” Donghyuck stops the dabbing, deeming it clean enough to move on to the ointment. 

“Yeah,”

“You can have Taeyong look into it. Show him the arrow and all that, I’m sure he could find from where it came from.” 

“You think I should tell Taeyong? He’ll have my ass on a platter for not activating the suit’s alert system.” 

Donghyuck shrugs, still wiping ointment on Mark’s arm. “He’ll still have it on a platter if he finds out you didn’t tell him.” 

“True,” Mark considers Donghyuck is right. Taeyong has to know about this otherwise he’ll be pissed at Mark for keeping something like this from him. Especially after the way he’s testing Mark’s honesty. 

“Yeah, so if I were you I’d call him tomorrow.” Donghyuck finishes dabbing the ointment, places a few gauze pads before he begins to wrap his arm with bandage wrap. They fall into silence, it’s comfortable though and Mark is relieved. 

When Donghyuck finishes he stands, moving to sit behind Mark so he can dress his wound there as well. Mark doesn’t even realize he’s falling asleep until Donghyuck calls out his name. 

He startles and meets Donghyuck’s eyes. “Let’s get you into bed, yeah?” He murmurs reaching for Mark’s hand. Mark lets him grab both hands, lets himself be pulled up. Donghyuck helps him walk to his bed, listens to him as Donghyuck tells him to sleep on his stomach to avoid hurting his back wound. 

“You’re not going on those nightly patrols alone anymore,” Donghyuck whispers as he waits for Mark to get comfortable. “What?’ 

“I said you’re not going on those nightly patrols of yours alone anymore. I’m coming with you whether you like it or not.” The way Donghyuck says this makes Mark feel like he has no option but to agree. 

“So we’re talking again?” Mark whispers and even though his eyes are closed he feels Donghyuck tense next to him. There’s a short pause as Mark waits for Donghyuck to respond, he basks in the silence as it draws him closer to sleep. He doesn’t even know how long it’s been when Donghyuck finally speaks. 

“Yeah, I guess we are.” He murmurs quietly as Mark is on the brink of unconsciousness. His eyes are heavy with sleep, his mouth not moving as he would like it to. Just as he’s slipping into sleep he swears he can feel Donghyuck’s hand sweep across his forehead, pushing Mark’s hair back. He manages to hum, a low sound in the back of his throat. Already too far gone to think it was actually real.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys !!!! Hope everyone is doing good, I'm fine myself school kind of already kicking my ass but it's fine haha. This chapter is probably heavy on the typos and grammatical errors so I apologize for that. I'll come back to edit sometime this week when I have time. 
> 
> Yukhei was finally introduced in this chapter so that's fun. I have big plans for him so look forward to that. Mark's new friend is also going to be introduced soon, anyone who can guess who it is, gets a high five from me :D Mark still does not understand Donghyuck after living with him for a couple of months, astonishing huh? Then again Mark doesn't make an effort to get to know him, he just expects Donghyuck to do all the work. Wonder how that's going to work out. 
> 
> Anyways I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please leave me your thoughts below !! I love getting comments. You can also follow me on twitter (@mvrkslee) for any updates on the story :D see you guys next week


	7. after the storm hits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a quick warning before you start reading, after the first ⋆⋆⋆ there is a somewhat? detailed talk of a panic attack. You can skip that scene and go to the next just fine. I'll summarize what happened in that scene at the endnotes!!!

It’s storming and Mark is cold… so cold. His suit is drenched through from the heavy rain falling down around him, his limbs feel heavy and seem to hesitate whenever he tries to move. He clenches his teeth as he forces his eyes open just in time to see the lightning come down, momentarily lighting up the sky. He scrambles to shoot a web out, breath caught in his throat as he waits to feel if it lands on the desired target. He feels a light pull and he lets himself sag forward, feeling the cold smack him square in the chest as he swings through the air. The cold air seeps into the suit’s cuts, stinging the long gashes Mark has. He lands messily, slipping on the wet railing of the balcony of a random apartment complex, wincing as his back begins to throb from the impact. 

He doesn’t have many options on where to go. Or what he should do, honestly. The cold is messing with his mind, making it sluggish and unable to process any of tonight’s events. There are only flashes of what happened.

Mark guesses it’s his mind’s way of dealing with it all. He doesn’t mind too much, would gladly take this over having to accept all the new changes in his life once the morning comes. Mark is so lost in thought that he doesn’t see it coming. He only feels himself being grabbed at, his suit and skin being cut, and then he's falling. 

He wheezes as he tries to get his lungs to work. To breathe in as they should. Tries to web something. To stop him from falling but nothing comes out. He's out of webs. Struggles to grab onto something but his fingers are wet from the rain and they slip every time they touch a railing. 

He doesn't even realize he's screaming until he feels his voice go out, his throat aching. He directs his eyes up at the last second, barely making out the glowing green eyes of his attacker in the dark. The sky lights up and it's too bright… too overwhelming for Mark to handle. He closes them letting himself have a moment of calm before he hits the floor. 

⋆⋆⋆

Mark wakes up gasping, maneuvering himself so he’s leaning against his bed frame, desperately clutching at his chest as he tries to breathe in as much air as he can. His eyes are glued onto his chest, scanning over his bare thighs, the pale skin seeming to glow under the dim light of his bedside lamp. He’s struggling to breathe, panting as he tries to get the air to reach his lungs. His arms feel numb by sides. 

“Mark?” Someone whispers making Mark jerk back, his eyes snapping up to find the source. He presses himself further into the corner of the wall, curling inwards to himself, still struggling to breathe. Mark watches as the boy, slowly raises his hands so Mark can see him. Mark's vision is getting blurrier by the second and it takes a second for Mark to realize there are tears pooling in his eyes. Donghyuck.

“Mark?” he repeats in a soft tone, “It’s me, Donghyuck, you know who I am right?” When Mark doesn’t say anything, just continues to stare at him, he takes a small step forward. “Fuck… I’m here, okay? Yo-you need to breathe in with me, do you understand?” Mark tries to nod but his body feels so foreign to him right now that he doesn't know if he even manages to actually do it. Donghyuck climbs onto the bed, shifting himself until he's sitting on his knees in front of Mark. 

"One," Donghyuck breathes in deeply, holding it in for a second, before he breathes out. Mark tries to follow his movements as Donghyuck coaxes him to breathe in with him. He continues doing this until Mark is somewhat breathing normally, Donghyuck having moved closer to him at one point. He’s holding one of Mark’s hands in his, tapping his index finger on time with his breathing. His other hand is running through Mark’s hair, fingers curling themselves with the longer strands. 

“Let’s move you away from the wall, okay? You’re going to hurt your wound.” Donghyuck whispers, slowly moving Mark so he’s leaning against him. Mark head drops onto Donghyuck’s shoulder and only then does he realize how badly he is shaking. They stay like that for a while, neither of them saying anything. They just sit in silence, Mark's breathing and occasional hiccup the only noise in the room. 

Donghyuck continues to run his fingers through Mark's hair, lightly massaging his scalp. Mark doesn't know how much time passes with them like that. It's only after Mark's breathing has completely gone back to normal and he's begun to see things floating in the dark that he tries to disentangle himself from Donghyuck. 

"Do you want to sleep?" Donghyuck whispers and Mark shakes his head. If he went to sleep right now he'd probably end up having another nightmare. "Okay then… do you want some tea? Water?" 

Mark shrugs, and Donghyuck sighs. "You need to drink something, Mark." 

"Fine," Mark croaks out, clearing his throat after and grimacing from the slight burn. Donghyuck nods, letting go of Mark's hand to get off the bed. Mark follows after him, ignoring the way his limbs feel like jello. Donghyuck clicks his teeth when he sees Mark stumble forward, reaching out to help steady him. 

"Wait… here." Donghyuck steps back toward Mark, maneuvering his arm so he can wrap it securely around Mark's torso. "This okay?" He whispers, his words fanning over Mark's face and neck. 

"Yeah," Mark responds and Donghyuck smiles, taking a tentative step forward. They make their way to the kitchen, where Donghyuck helps Mark onto one of the island stools, before he sets onto making the tea. 

It doesn't take long for the tea to be done, and soon the two are drinking a cup each. It burns Mark's throat as it goes down but Mark makes himself take sip after sip until the cup is empty. 

"Feel better?" Donghyuck's voice breaks the silence making Mark jump slightly. He turns slightly, so he can face Donghyuck and sees his eyes already on him. 

"My throat hurts," Mark mumbled, his lips pouting unconsciously as he says it. Donghyuck's lips twitch as if he were fighting a smile before they settle down into a frown. "Yeah, you were screaming… pretty loud." He says quietly, his eyes flickering down as he says it. "Do you want some more tea? Maybe painkillers?" He continues louder, his eyes moving back up to meet Mark's. 

"Nah, I'll be fine," Donghyuck's eyes narrow at Mark's words and he placed his cup down on the island before standing up. Mark watches him as he walks over to the cabinets and opens them up, rummaging through them. He comes back after opening several cabinets with a small bottle of ibuprofen in one hand, a water bottle in the other. 

"I don't care, you're gonna take it." He says sternly, as he opens the bottle and shakes a pill onto his open palm. When Mark doesn't move he grabs one of Mark's hands, opening it so his palm is spread out and he placed the pill on it before he placed the water in front of him. 

"Drink," 

Mark looks at him, watching Donghyuck nostrils flare slightly as he huffs at Mark when he takes too long. Mark fights back down the small smile threatening to take over his face by swallowing the pill. 

"Good job," Donghyuck says patting Mark's head, "now let's get you back to bed, hm?" 

Mark let's Donghyuck wrap an arm around him, helping him back to his room. Donghyuck doesn't leave his side as Mark settles into bed, lying on his side. "I-I… is it okay if I stayed here?" Donghyuck fiddles with the edge of Mark's blanket as he says it. "I won't stay the whole night, umm… just until you fall asleep? So you won't be alone." 

There's a knot growing in Mark's throat and he swallows harshly, pushing it down. "Yeah, that's fine." He croaks out and Donghyuck smiles at him, moving himself so he's sitting with his back against Mark's headboard, his legs stretched out on the bed. Donghyuck's hand drops down to Mark's head, carding themselves into his hair. Mark hums quietly, closing his eyes at the feeling. 

"Thank you," Mark whispers, as sleep draws him in. His mouth feels like cotton but he forces the words out, hoping they're audible enough for Donghyuck to hear. He must have because his fingers froze for a split second before they continue but Mark is already too far gone to hear what Donghyuck responds. He just hears the soft honey voice, right before he falls into darkness, surrounded by Donghyuck-- the clean smell from his clothes with a hint of the rose soap he loves using. 

⋆⋆⋆

When Mark wakes up the first thing he notices is the hushed whispering. It’s not loud, it really isn’t but with Mark’s heightened hearing it’s louder than it should be. He relishes the last few seconds of sleep before he opens his eyes-- blinking trying to get the sleep out of them. He yawns and groans, his eyes shut closed when a sharp pain spreads throughout his body when he turns himself over. The whispering stops abruptly and he hears soft padding. 

“Mark? You okay?” Donghyuck asks and Mark nods, nose scrunched from the pain. There’s a slight pause as Donghyuck places the back of his hand to Mark’s forehead and Mark tries not to melt at his touch. “You’re a little bit warm, do you feel sick?” he whispers and Mark hums. 

“Nah, I’m just hot.” Mark responds and Donghyuck flicks his forehead making him open his eyes. “Hey!” He complains, looking up at Donghyuck when he hears someone clear their throat. His eyes flicker across the room landing on Taeyong… Taeyong? His eyes widen as he takes him in, rushing to sit up. His back hits the headboard with a loud bang and Mark bites down on his lip to repress the groan that builds in his throat. 

“Dude! You have to stop doing that!” Donghyuck says loudly, reaching over Mark to grab a pillow. He pulls Mark forward by his arm, pushing the pillow in between Mark and the headboard before letting Mark lean back again. 

“Donghyuck.” Taeyong says and Donghyuck sighs, his eyes flickering over to look at him before going back to Mark’s. 

“I’m gonna go make us some breakfast.” He says awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes scan over Mark’s face one last time before he walks away. Now that Donghyuck is gone, Mark has no choice but to look at Taeyong. 

Taeyong doesn’t look necessarily angry, he just looks tired. His red hair is now an almost pink color, pushed back by a big black headband that covers most of his forehead. His eyes are glued onto Mark’s bare chest as he walks over, coming closer to sit on the edge of the bed. Now closer, Mark can see the slight bags under Taeyong’s eyes and he can’t help but frown at that. 

“Does it hurt?” Taeyong asks, placing a hand on Mark’s leg. “Um no-not really. Only when I move too fast I guess.” He nods at Mark’s words, hand tightening slightly. 

“Donghyuck called me last night,” Well that explains why he’s here. 

“He told me about what happened, sounded so worried on the phone I had to fly back.” he continues and Mark opens his mouth, to explain himself “I’m fine se-” but Taeyong cuts him off. 

“No Mark, you’re not fine. Sure, you handled the situation as best as you could but you still got hurt.” He pauses, eyes flickering down to the bed. “Do I have to sit here and lecture you about how incredibely stupid you were last night?” He looks back up at Mark, meeting his eyes. 

Mark swallows hard, shaking his head. “No, sir.” 

“Good, because I don’t wanna do that but what you did was so stupid for someone like you. You’re one of the brightest boys I’ve met your age that I almost didn’t believe Donghyuck when he told me.” Taeyong shakes his head slightly before continuing. “How could I believe him when I had specifically told you if there was any danger at all to activate the suit? After you said you would?” 

“Why didn’t you call me?” 

“I-I didn’t want to worry you, not over something like this. You have so much to do, why cause you to worry about this little incident. When I’ll heal.” 

“What if they had aimed a little better? Hadn’t just nicked your shoulder but actually hit something fatal? What would you have done then?” 

“It wasn’t like that though.” Taeyong clicks his teeth, his brows pulled together. “You had no way of knowing that, Mark. You could have seriously gotten hurt just for being stubborn. Would it have cost you a lot just to utter the words so you could have been safer?” 

“No,” Mark whispers. 

“Exactly, I don’t care if you think it’ll be fine or not. You have to promise me you’ll activate the suit next time.” 

“I do,” 

“Say it, promise me you will.” 

“I promise, Taeyong.” He seems relieved to hear that because his shoulders relax as he breathes out. 

“Mark?” he says, quieter than before and Mark feels himself tense. Taeyong must feel it as well because he glances down to his hand resting on Mark’s leg before meeting his eyes again. “Donghyuck mentioned to me that you had a nightmare?” 

Fuck, of course he did. How did Mark think Donghyuck would let that slide, after he was the one who saw Mark afterwards? 

His mouth suddenly feels incredibly dry and he begins to fiddle with his fingers. 

“Are they back?” 

“Last night’s was the first bad one in a while,” Mark watches as Taeyong’s lips thin out into a straight line as he processes Mark’s words. “In a while?”

“Yeah. The nightmares didn’t really go away, what went away was the afterwards part… well until last night” 

“Do you want to talk about it?” Something in Mark’s face must give away his response because Taeyong nods slightly before saying, “We don’t have to talk about it. You’d tell me if they got worse, right? If they got like before?” 

“Of course,” Mark breathes out. Taeyong seems to want to say more but a soft knock stops him from doing so. Donghyuck walks in, peeking his head through the open door. “Breakfast is almost ready, if you guys are done?” 

“We are,” Taeyong says, standing up from the bed. “Yeah I’ll be there, I’m just going to go freshen up first.” 

⋆⋆⋆

“So did you and Jaehyun make up already?” Mark asks and Taeyong chokes on his water from across the table. Donghyuck laughs, watching as Taeyong hits his chest a couple of times. Taeyong’s face is red and Mark can’t tell if it’s from choking or Mark’s question. 

He clears his throat, suddenly very interested in the remaining maple syrup on his plate from the pancakes Donghyuck had made, “We--um came to terms, yeah.” he says quietly. 

“Wow, I didn’t know you and Captain America were going at it.” Donghyuck says amused and Taeyong begins moving his syrup around with his fork. “They’re not,” Mark tells Donghyuck after Taeyong doesn’t respond. 

“Oh? Then why is Taeyong so embarrassed? Do you have a crush on him or did y’all hook up and it’s awkward now?” Taeyong makes a strange noise at Donghyuck’s words and Mark swears he can see Taeyong’s ears growing hot as well. 

“I don’t have a crush on anyone.” Taeyong mutters and Donghyuck’s smile grows. “So you guys did hook up?” 

“No!” He exclaims, letting the fork fall onto the plate. “Damn, that’s a pity. I’ve heard a lot of great things about America’s ass.” Donghyuck says and Taeyong’s eyes widen while Mark scrunches his nose. 

“Have you even met him?” Mark asks at the same time Taeyong says, “Who did you hear that from?” 

Donghyuck laughs, throwing his head back while the two watch him. He jokingly wipes at his eyes as if were drying some imaginary tears. “Mark, don’t sound so offended. Your ass is still the best one I’ve seen.” He winks at Mark before turning to Taeyong. “Now you, your crush is so obvious does he know?” 

Mark ignores the way his face heats up at his comment and tries to focus on Taeyong. “I don’t have a crush on him,” he says stubbornly, “besides, he hates me.” 

“Why do you think he hates you?” Donghyuck asks and Taeyong sighs. “He just does. Whenever we’re together, he always ends up arguing with me and--” He cuts off, looking up at the two. 

“What? Why am I even talking about this with you children?” Taeyong asks and it sounds more like it’s directed to himself rather than Mark and Donghyuck. He shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts. 

“As much as I love spending time with the two of you, I must get going. The jet is scheduled to take off in a couple of hours and I need to go take a nap.” Taeyong says as he pushes his chair back and stands. 

“You could always nap here? There are plenty of rooms available.” Donghyuck points out and the way Taeyong freezes makes Mark laugh. “He’s had enough Donghyuck for today, unlike me though, he can escape.” 

Donghyuck glares at Mark but Mark ignores him, standing up as well. He tries not to wince as he reaches over for Taeyong’s dirty plate, stacking it on top of his own, before placing Donghyuck’s on top of his. “Just leave that to me,” Donghyuck says grabbing them out of his hands and before Mark can complain he’s a;ready walked off towards the sink. 

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to Doyoung? He could take a better look at that than both Donghyuck and I could” Taeyong asks but Mark is shaking his head before he even finishes. 

“I’m fine, you guys are just exaggerating.” 

“Maybe if you didn’t wince at every movement you make we wouldn’t be fussing over it.” Donghyuck calls out from the kitchen and Mark rolls his eyes. 

“It hurts!” 

“Well stop being a coward and man up.” 

“Fuck you.” 

“Children, please. Stop fighting.” Taeyong says and Mark looks over at him. He beckons Mark to come walk him out and Mark follows him, after he bids Donghyuck goodbye. Only once they’re outside, standing in front of Taeyong’s matte black Aston Martin, does he finally speak. 

“So, how’s it going with Donghyuck? Has there been any improvement?” He asks and Mark sighs.

“Yes? And no? He changes the topic whenever I bring it up but like I told you, he didn’t kill anyone from last time which is a good sign, right?” 

“Yeah, it’s a small improvement. You need to keep encouraging him, he’d be amazing to have back home.” Mark nods at his words. “I’ll keep talking to him about it. I still don’t understand why he doesn’t want to join. When I asked him he said something about not being a hero? Do you know what that could mean?” 

“I do but it’s not my story to tell. If you’re curious about it, ask him. You seem closer than before, I’m sure he’d tell you.” 

“I doubt it.” Mark says and Taeyong shrugs. “You never know, he could surprise you.” 

“We’ll see, maybe I’ll ask.” Taeyong smiles at him, stepping forward and quickly embracing Mark, making sure to avoid his wound. Mark blinks, stunned, and as quickly as he hugged him, Taeyong steps back before Mark can even think to hug him back. 

“You don’t heal the same way as Donghyuck, you be sure to remember that. Don’t get hurt again.” He tells Mark as he twists the arrow in his hand. Unsure of what to say, Mark just nods and watches Taeyong open the door and get in his car. He rolls down the window after turning on the car, looking up at Mark. 

“Next time I come out here, I’ll bring the rest of the team. They keep bugging me about it, they miss you.” 

“All of them?” 

“Yukhei has been meaning to meet you for months now. If it were up to him he’d have come here ages ago but I’d rather be present when you meet...he is quite a lot to take in.” 

“As long as Sicheng comes, I’ll be glad to see the rest of them.” 

“I’ll tell him.” Taeyong says and Mark smiles at him. They say goodbye only after Taeyong makes Mark promise him once more, that he will activate the suit if he is in danger. After Mark does, Taeyong rolls his window up and Mark is left in the driveway watching Taeyong drive away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello :D This chapter is sort of late but it's still Sunday so hope you can forgive me haha. Count my sins hit 1k views and over 100kudos which is insane to me. I've always loved to write but never felt comfortable enough sharing anything until now? It's honestly crazy seeing people read something I'm writing. Thank you guys so much??
> 
> I hope you guys like the chapter, I'm not too sure how I feel about it but it's something so I'll take it. We learn a little more about Mark and Taeyong which is nice. Anyways please tell me what you thought about this chapter, I love reading your comments. They really do motivate me to write more !!! If you have any predictions or questions you can go to my twitter (@mvrkslee) and leave me some ccs :D see you guys next week 
> 
> Summary of the scene (if skipped): Basically Mark wakes up from the nightmare and starts panicking. Luckily Donghyuck is there and helps him breathe and calm down. Afterward, Donghyuck makes Mark some tea and then takes him back to his room. Donghyuck stays there with him until he goes back to sleep.


	8. the brightest sun

“You’re going out?” Donghyuck asks as he watches Mark put on his shoes. “Um, yeah?” Mark says but it’s high at the end as if he was questioning whether he really was or not. He hasn’t looked up from tying his shoes, otherwise, he’d be able to see the incredulous look Donghyuck was currently sporting. 

“Like, actually going out? Not just to the library or something?” 

“Yes, Donghyuck I’m going out with a friend. He uh,” Mark pauses as he tries to fix his laces on his right shoe, “invited me to go hang out. I think we’re going to an arcade? Or maybe the carnival downtown? I don’t really know.” 

“Oh, so it’s a date?” 

Mark’s head whips up so fast that it gives him whiplash, and he has to take a second to focus on Donghyuck. When he can finally see clearly, he finds Donghyuck looking down at his phone, scrolling, but Mark can see his lips are pursued as if he was trying not to laugh. “It’s not a date.”

“Don’t sound so offended, Markie. It’s fine if you are, like into men or whatever… It’s not like I’d judge you or anything.” 

Mark opens his mouth to say something but he splutters unable to say anything understandable so he closes it and looks at Donghyuck. His face feels really hot, and Mark knows if he were to look in the mirror right now, it would be red. “It’s not like that.” Donghyuck raises an eyebrow at that but otherwise doesn’t say anything, his thumb still swiping at the screen. 

“I mean, it is like that! I do like guys but this isn’t a date!” Mark rushes to say and Donghyuck snorts, finally looking up to meet Mark’s frantic eyes. 

“Chill, I was just messing with you.” He says and Mark releases the breath he was unconsciously holding, his shoulders slumping forward. “Besides, I like guys too if that makes you feel any better, or whatever.” He shrugs as if it’s the most simple thing in the universe and Mark guesses it is. 

"So again, don't think I'll judge you for it." 

Mark isn't sure what to say so he clears his throat after the silence becomes awkward and reaches behind himself to rub his neck. "Thanks, I think?" Mark says finally and Donghyuck smiles at him. 

"Yeah whatever dude, don't mention it." 

Mark’s phone buzzes and when he looks at the screen, sure enough, there’s a text asking him if he’s on his way yet.

“I’ll be back later, in time for a nightly patrol if you still wanted to come with me?” Mark calls out as he walks over to the key bowl by the door, grabbing his car keys.

“Of course, Markie I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” He hears Donghyuck say as he shuts the door behind him. 

⋆⋆⋆

Mark was aimlessly walking around the food carts, looking at what he should buy when he noticed a familiar blue haired boy walking up to him. 

“Mark!” He greets him, pulling Mark into a hug. Mark chuckles at his enthusiasm, returning the embrace. 

“Hey, Minho! Did you just get here or did I make you wait a bit?” Mark asks as they pull apart. Minho puckers his lips slightly, as he pretends to think about it before his face lights up in mock realization. “It wasn’t too long, maybe ten minutes or so.” He says before shrugging. 

Mark’s face falls at Minho’s words and hurriedly says, “Shit, sorry about that Minho.” 

“It’s fine dude, it happens.” Minho pauses before shooting Mark a smile, “But… if you wanna make up for it I’d totally accept some deep-fried Oreos.” 

Mark rolls his eyes watching Minho’s smile grow. “You’re literally loaded but sure, I’ll buy you food.” 

“Free food always tastes better, Mark.” He sticks his tongue out at Mark and Mark’s nose scrunches looking at him. “Anyways, c’mon let’s go get food so we can walk around,” Minho says before walking away in the direction of a food cart. Mark follows behind him, nodding along whenever Minho points excitedly at some deep-fried snack. They finally stop at a cart that sells deep-fried Oreos and funnel cakes, Mark ordering and paying for both of them. 

Oreos in hand, they finally set off to explore the carnival. “Do you live on campus?” Minho asks as they walk. 

“Nah, I have a place a couple of minutes away from the university, you?” Mark bites into an oreo, glancing over at Minho. Minho shakes his head, “I have an apartment but I’m at my parent’s place a lot.” 

“You miss it?” 

“Not really.” He chews and swallows a bite of oreo before answering, “My dad is always working and my mom is left alone. She might not admit it but I know she hates staying home by herself so I go over as much as I can.” 

“That’s sweet of you to do,” Mark says and Minho groans quietly. “Don’t make fun of me,” Minho shoves Mark’s shoulder. 

“I’m not!” 

“You are! I can tell,” Minho pouts and Mark shakes his head quickly. “I’m really not like not a lot of people would do that, dude.” 

“Okay.” 

“Okay.” Deciding to change the topic, Mark looks around at all the different rides and asks, “Do you see any rides you wanna go on?” 

Minho’s face flushes at that. “You’re gonna laugh at me but I actually don’t want to get on anything.” He says quickly, looking away from Mark, almost as if he were embarrassed. 

“What? Why?” Mark questions, confused. He thought Minho had chosen to come here for the rides. 

“I’m terrified of heights and most of the rides are higher than I can stand so I thought we could eat some greasy food and bond, I don’t know.” He says, sheepishly. 

“That’s fine. I saw some good looking fries back there we can go get once we’re done with these. Plus we can waste some money at those ridiculously overpriced game stands.” 

Minho looks back at Mark, a blinding smile lighting up his face. “Sounds like a plan.” 

⋆⋆⋆

When Mark gets home most of the lights are off. When he walks in, he notices the only source of light seems to be coming from the living room. He takes off his shoes, placing them on the shoe rack before making his way to the living room. 

Hyuck is laid out on the couch, clad in his Deadpool suit without the mask. The television is on and some random movie is playing but Donghyuck’s eyes are closed. Mark stares at him for a second before walking away. He comes back with a blanket and drapes it over Donghyuck. He turns off the TV and is turned to walk away when he feels a hand wrap around his wrist loosely. 

“You just get back?” Donghyuck slurs as Mark turns back around to face him. He’s blinking sleepily as he tries to focus on Mark. His hair is ruffled and messy from sleeping, cheeks a bit swollen, and lips slightly pouty. 

“Yeah,” Mark breathes out and Donghyuck nods once, closing his eyes, eyebrows furrowed. Mark feels a weird sensation in his chest as he looks at him, almost as if it were tightening against him. “Are we going already?” He asks opening his eyes and looking at Mark. 

“Um...why don’t you stay and sleep some more, hm?” Mark murmurs making Donghyuck’s eyes narrow and Mark feels his lips twitch as he tries not to smile. Donghyuck looks a lot younger like this, Mark thinks faintly. He looks more childlike in a way, less tense, different than the usual Donghyuck Mark was used to seeing. 

“For you to get attacked again? No thanks, I’m going.” As he says this, his hand tightens around Mark’s wrist. Mark’s eyes flicker down to look at his wrist, before looking back at Donghyuck. He clears his throat and shrugs. “Okay well, I need to go change real quick.” 

Donghyuck nods and loosens his hold, letting the hand fall back onto his lap. Mark watches as Donghyuck rubs his eyes before making his way to his room. He tries to change as quickly as he can, not wanting to make Donghyuck wait a whole lot. He’s back in the living room in less than ten minutes to find Donghyuck gone. 

“Donghyuck?” Mark calls out, walking toward the front door. Sure enough, he finds Donghyuck leaning against the front door, he’s put on his mask and has his knives with him, ready to go. When Mark is close enough, Donghyuck straightens and opens his arms wide. 

Mark stops and watches him, confused. His arms are open as if he were asking for a hug. “Um...What?” He finally asks after a few seconds of awkward silence. 

“C’mere,” Donghyuck says motioning with one hand. Mark walks over slowly and Donghyuck sighs. 

When Mark stops before him, Donghyuck grabs his upper arms and turns him around. Before Mark can even ask anything, Donghyuck has already reached forward and wrapped his arms around Mark’s neck. 

Oh. 

Mark squats down a bit so Donghyuck can get on his back easier. Once he’s on, Donghyuck leans his head against the back of Mark’s neck and lessons his grip on Mark’s neck opting to wrap his legs tightly around Mark’s hips. 

They don’t say anything as Donghyuck reaches and opens the door for them to walk out of. They don’t say anything as Mark swings them through the air. They don’t say anything as they finally settle on the rooftop of some tall business building. 

It’s been an hour or two since they left the house. They’d made their way through the city trying to find anything needing their help but it had been oddly quiet tonight. Mark wasn’t sure why the city was usually still relatively alive at this time of night but it seemed almost dead. 

“Are we going home?” Donghyuck says, his voice rough from not having been used. He clears his throat and rubs his hands down his arms. 

“Are you cold?” 

“Fucking freezing,” he answers as he continues rubbing his arms.

“Wait… is your suit not insulated?” Mark asks confused. Donghyuck stops walking around and tilts his head slightly to the right as he looks at Mark. “No? What the fuck. Is yours?” 

Mark nods. “It was one of the first upgrades Taeyong made to my suit.” He explains and Donghyuck groans. “Of fucking course he did. Fuck him, you and your suit. Fucking golden child.” 

Mark laughs at that and Donghyuck points a gloved finger at him. “Stop laughing.” He says which only makes Mark laugh harder. He sounds whiny and it reminds Mark that Donghyuck is younger than him. Mark can’t see Donghyuck’s face because of the mask but he knows that if he could, Donghyuck’s eyebrows would be furrowed, his eyes narrows, lips pulled into a pout. 

“Okay, let’s go home,” Mark says after he’s calmed down. He watches amused as Donghyuck stomps his way over to where Mark was. He grudgingly opens his arms and waits for Mark to turn around so he can get on. 

His hold on Mark is tighter than it was before and Mark chokes as he straightens because Donghyuck’s arms hit his neck. 

“Shit dude, watch that grip.” He chokes out and Donghyuck chuckles against his neck. “Maybe I should choke you for having a better suit.” He teases and Mark stiffens. 

“Please don’t.” 

“It was a joke, calm down.” 

Mark relaxes and tells Donghyuck to hold on as Mark takes them back home. 

⋆⋆⋆

The next day Mark walks into the living room half expecting Donghyuck to be there but he finds it empty. He goes into the kitchen and is met with the same. Weird. Donghyuck practically lives on the couch. Confused, Mark makes his way over to Donghyuck’s room. 

“Donghyuck?” He asks as he knocks. Once. Twice. And a third time. 

He stands there, awkwardly in silence, unsure of whether or not he should walk in. After a couple of seconds of debating, he decides to walk in. When he tries the door it gives away easily and he pushes it open. 

The room is pitch black despite it being sunny outside. Mark guesses it has to do with the blackout curtains Donghyuck had told him he was gonna buy. He walks in cautiously trying to avoid stepping on anything, walking toward Donghyuck’s bed. 

“Donghyuck?” He whispers looking down at the bundled mess of blankets Mark assumed Donghyuck was cocooned in. There’s a sniffle followed by a cough and a pained groan. 

“Go away, Mark.” Donghyuck rasps. His usual warm and honey like voice is wet and rough. It sounds all wrong and makes Mark feel funny. 

“What’s wrong?” He asks quickly and Donghyuck’s only response is to groan. Mark moves closer to the bed so he can grab ahold of one of the ends of the blanket and pulls so he can see Donghyuck. He’s curled into himself, laying on his side, his back to Mark. 

Mark places the back of his hand to Donghyuck’s forehead and sure enough, it’s hot against his hand. Donghyuck seems to nuzzle Mark’s cool hand, melting into the mattress. “You’re burning up?” He says although it ends up sounding more like a question than an observation. “Um… Has that ever happened before? You know considering your healing factor?” 

“No.” 

“No it hasn’t happened before? Or you don’t know?” 

“This is the first time it’s happened since I got my healing factor.” Donghyuck chokes out, immediately going into a coughing fit after. Mark jumps slightly at how harsh he’s coughing and tentatively pats his back. 

“I’m calling Taeyong,” Mark tells him once he finishes coughing. Donghyuck peers up at him, and Mark assumes it would be more of a glare if Donghyuck had it in him at the moment. “What for? It’s just-” He starts coughing again and Mark grabs him, manhandling him so Donghyuck is sitting back against his headboard. 

“I don’t care, I’m calling him. I’ll be right back.” He doesn’t give Donghyuck any time to complain as he walks right out after. 

The line rings a couple of times before Taeyong actually picks up and Mark is relieved. “Mark? Are you alright?” He asks as soon as the line goes through. 

“Yeah, I’m okay Mr. Lee. It’s actually Donghyuck? Who I wanted to talk to you about.” 

“Donghyuck? Is there a problem with him?” 

“I woke up and he’s sick? Well, he has a fever and won’t stop coughing so I’m not really sure what’s wrong with him?” 

“He’s sick? Are you sure, Mark?” Taeyong asks and Mark can hear the confusion in his voice. 

“It seems so, sir. I asked him if he’s been sick before and he said not since his healing factor.” 

“Huh. That’s strange, let me ask Doyoung. Can you go ask Donghyuck how he feels while I go find him?” His voice is slightly muffled and Mark assumes it’s because he begins walking. 

“Yeah, hold on.” 

Mark walks back into Donghyuck’s room and sees him still leaning back, just like Mark had left him. “Donghyuck? Can you tell me how you feel?” 

Donghyuck’s eyes open slightly, as he tries to focus on Mark. “What?” 

“Tell me how you feel so I can let Taeyong know.” 

“My head hurts, nose stuffy, and I can’t stop coughing. It’s just a cold, Mark.” 

Mark is about to respond when he hears Taeyong speak. “Okay Mark, I’m here with Doyoung. You’re on speaker.” 

“Um, he says it’s just a cold. Like his head hurts, has a stuffy nose, and keeps coughing?” 

“Can you ask him if he feels any pain in his chest?” Doyoung asks. 

Mark pulls the phone away from his ear so he can press the speaker. “He wants to know if you have any pain in your chest,” Mark tells Donghyuck, sitting down at the edge of the bed, next to him. 

“No, it only hurts when I cough really hard.” 

“And you don’t feel any pain besides that? Any sort of pain like before?” Doyoung questions. 

“No.” 

“Did you get wet and walk around like that? Were in the cold too long?” 

“We were out pretty late last night.” Mark answers and Doyoung hums. “Well, he does seem to have the symptoms of a cold and from what you just said, it would be the best explanation for it.” 

“Isn’t it strange that he’s sick though?” Mark hears Taeyong ask. 

“Yes, it is peculiar but not completely abnormal. Donghyuck does have quite an extraordinary healing factor that allows his cells to regenerate at a much faster rate than normal but it also leaves his body vulnerable to just about anything. So if he was able to get sick, it means that he can get sick from things at least once before his body learns to cure him and learn to protect itself.” 

“So the effects wouldn’t last long then?” Taeyong continues. “Exactly. I’d say the effects of the cold would last for a couple of hours, maybe a day at the most.” 

“And I can treat him just as if he were having a cold? Make him soup and stuff?” Mark asks and he hears a soft snort through the line. 

“You could, it probably wouldn’t do much considering his body doesn’t need that extra push but I wouldn’t advise against it. It could trick Donghyuck into being less cranky.” 

“Okay thanks, Doyoung.” 

“No problem, Mark.” 

“Hey, Taeyong?” Donghyuck calls out and Mark moves the phone so it’s closer to him, but Donghyuck lifts a shaky hand and grabs it. 

“Yes, Donghyuck?” 

“Maybe if you had made my suit insulated I wouldn’t feel like shit right now. Golden boy ever here, couldn’t even tell I was freezing my ass off bc he was warm and toasty in his suit.” 

“Did I not do that?” Taeyong asks sounding oddly innocent. “Bitch, you know you fucking didn’t.” 

“Donghyuck!” Mark exclaims and he hears Doyoung laugh in the back. “You can’t call him that.” 

“I can call him whatever the fuck I want. He got me fucking sick and so did you.” 

“Me?” 

“Yes, you! If you hadn’t wanted to be out so late then I wouldn’t have been cold that long.” 

“I didn’t force you to go with me! I even told you to stay home because you were tired but you said no.” 

“You fucking prick, I went in case you got your ass hurt again.” 

“Children, please. Stop bickering.” Taeyong cuts Mark off before he can say something else, Doyoung is still laughing in the background. 

“Donghyuck, I apologize for not doing that to your suit. I’ll start working on some new models later today, alright? Also, try not to kill each other before I see you both again.” And with that, he ends the call. 

Donghyuck sighs and tosses the phone in the direction of Mark. It lands next to his thigh and Mark grabs it. “Go make me some chicken soup.” 

“Why?” 

“Because I want some fucking chicken soup, Mark. Plus you’re the one who suggested it so now deal with it.” 

“You’re fucking horrible like this. Thank god, this will be the last time I see you sick.” Mark mutters as he stands up. 

“Fuck you, I’m the fucking sun.”

“The brightest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone. Um...I'm sorry for not updating last week. I just couldn't bring myself to write and I didn't want to force it so here I am, a week later. I hope y'all didn't miss me too much haha kidding. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wanted to add another scene but it isn't time for that quite just yet. Maybe in a chapter or two. We meet Doyoung which is nice, I hope his character is easy enough to recognize but in case it wasn't, he's supposed to be Bruce Banner (Hulk). Yeah, I just feel like he'd be the best fit so it happened. Okay well, please remember to leave me your thoughts on the chapter down below. They motivate me to write quicker :) See you guys next week! 
> 
> mark-spiderman  
> donghyuck-deadpool  
> taeyong-ironman  
> jungwoo-happy  
> doyoung-hulk


	9. late nights and bloody talks

Mark sighs as he lets his body slump back in his chair. He’s currently sitting at his desk in his room like he has been for the last three hours. He has a test next week in his stats class and it’s been a heavyweight on his shoulders since his professor had announced it. Mark isn’t the best at math, which is why he’s been doing example problems until his eyes are burning and head is pounding for the last few days. He glances over at his alarm clock, the bright red 11:40 staring back at him. 

Mark forces himself to stand up, ignoring the way his body aches with every step he takes toward his closet. It doesn’t take him long to pull on his spidey suit, opting to not pull the mask over his head just yet. He turns the light off in his room before walking to the living room, finding Donghyuck sprawled out on the couch watching some kdrama playing on the TV. “Hey,” Mark says, making his presence known to Donghyuck. 

He watches Donghyuck jump slightly at the sound of his voice, looking back at him. He glances over Mark, taking in the suit before he reaches for the remote and turns off the TV. “Let me go change,” He tells Mark as he stands up from the couch and walks away. Mark takes this chance to go look for some painkillers, hoping that the pounding in his head will calm down enough to get through the patrol. He’s just swallowed the pills down when Donghyuck comes back, holding his mask in his hand just like Mark. 

“You look like shit,” Donghyuck states, walking over to him.

“Thanks,” Mark says, unsure of what else he’s supposed to reply. Donghyuck shakes his head, reaches out with his empty hand and grabs Mark’s chin making his face turn slightly. Donghyuck leans in, his breath fanning over Mark’s face as he looks at him. Mark struggles against his hold but Donghyuck clicks his teeth making him stop. After a few seconds, he lets go, taking a step back. 

“You should sleep, Mark.” 

“I do.” 

“No, I meant right now. Like go sleep and I’ll go patrol for a while alone.” Mark is shaking his head before Donghyuck even finishes. “No way, Donghyuck. I’m not letting you go out there alone.” 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes at Mark’s words. “Dude, there’s nothing that I can’t come back from. I’ll be fine if I-” 

“I said no, Donghyuck,” Mark says, cutting him off. Donghyuck stares at him, his eyes narrowing before his demeanor relaxes and he shrugs. “Whatever, let’s go.” He turns around and starts walking away. Mark watches him take a few steps before he comes to his senses and rushes forward, grabbing Donghyuck by his arm. Donghyuck freezes, turning back around to look at Mark. 

“What?” He asks, his face carefully composed. “You’re not upset with me, are you? Over this?” Mark lets out quickly and he swears he saw Donghyuck’s eye twitch slightly at his words, but it was so quick that maybe Mark imagined it. 

“No, I’m not upset with you. It’s your life and you can choose what you want to do with it. I don’t care.” Donghyuck says and Mark is suddenly aware of his hand still holding onto Donghyuck’s arm. He lets it go quickly, feeling his fingers burn. “Oh,” Mark clears his throat, stepping back. “Um, yeah you’re right.” 

Mark pulls his mask over his face, ignoring the way Donghyuck is looking at him. The way his gaze burns his back as Mark walks toward the front door. Donghyuck is stiff against his back the whole time they swing around the city. He pulls away from him as soon as Mark’s feet land on the usual building rooftop. 

Now that they’ve stopped, Mark can finally feel how tired his body is. It’s practically screaming at him to sit down, so he does. He shakingly makes his way over to one of the tall edges, so he can sit down and lean back against it. 

Mark looks over at Donghyuck, who’s on the other side leaning over the edge to look at who knows what. They haven’t spoken more than a few words to each other since they left the house. Mark closes his eyes as he sighs quietly to himself, thinking about how he should approach Donghyuck. 

⋆⋆⋆

When Mark wakes up sometime later, he feels oddly disorientated. His eyes open and are immediately met with white, which freaks him out until he remembers he’s wearing his suit. Then he realizes that he fell asleep and it makes him want to hit himself for doing that. He wasn’t supposed to fall asleep, he had only closed his eyes to think about what to say to Donghyuck. Mark only becomes aware of the hand covering his mouth when the pressure increases slightly. Mark stiffens and almost immediately begins to fight against the hold. 

“Stop struggling! It’s just me, Mark.” Donghyuck whispers and Mark stops his body going limp in his hold. He tilts his head back and struggles to work his eyepieces, still groggy from sleep, until he remembers. He can’t really see Donghyuck’s face but he sees the red from his deadpool suit and deems it enough. 

“Umm… don’t freak out but that arrow guy is here, I think?” He whispers making Mark stiffen again. 

“What?” Mark tries to say but Donghyuck’s hand muffles his mouth so it comes out sounding more like a gargle than anything. He tries to reach for it, to push it away but Donghyuck’s free hand pushes against Mark’s shoulder forcing him down again. “I said don’t freak out! Also, stop moving for fuck’s sakes.” 

Mark opens his mouth meaning to say something but he feels Donghyuck stiffen against him, the pressure on his mouth increasing again. 

“Shhh! Listen.” He mumbles and Mark blinks. Everything feels foggy around him as if he were still sleeping so Mark has to concentrate so he can listen to what Donghyuck said. 

He doesn’t know what to look for so he sits there waiting for something to sound different. For something to be heard above the sound of his own breathing filling his ears until he hears it. The hiss of an arrow flying through the air. Mark’s reaction is immediate, his body acting on its own as he tries to sit up only for Donghyuck to push him down again and shake his head. 

Mark is still groggy from sleeping. His eyes burn and there’s a steady pounding in the back of his head that makes it harder for him to focus but he knows they have to do something. They either have to take him down or get the fuck away from him as fast as they can. Considering the last time Mark had encountered him, he had been able to keep up with him for a while which meant running away wasn’t a good option. On the other hand, they had no idea who they were up against. 

Neither of the two options seemed good enough for Mark. 

He reaches out to grab onto Donghyuck’s hand covering his mouth, pulling at it to grab his attention. Donghyuck seems to get the memo because his pressure lessons before he removes his hand. 

“Taeyong?” He asks and Donghyuck’s head tilts slightly at his suggestion making Mark wish he could see his face right now. That way he’d be able to see what Donghyuck was thinking, instead of staring at the red and black mask that gave nothing away. 

“No.” He says after a few seconds which makes Mark grow confused. “No?” 

“No.” Donghyuck repeats, firmer this time. “You don’t need Taeyong right now, not when I’m here.” 

“But we have no plan? We don’t know anything about this guy, wha-” 

“You’re safe with me,” Donghyuck says, cutting him off. Mark wants to say something, to tell him that it doesn’t work that way. That he can’t be the only one safe. That both of their safety is important but he doesn’t get the chance to say any of that because Mark’s skin begins to tingle and he stops thinking. ‘

One second Donghyuck is sitting against the edge, with Mark’s head on his lap, hand still placed on his shoulder, then in the next second Mark has pushed himself up. Grabbed Donghyuck by the hand, pulled him forward so fast that his body slams against Mark’s, knocking the wind out of him. Mark ignores it moving them so they’re rolling forward, away from the edge. Just in time because as Mark’s back hit the concrete floor, he sees an arrow fly where Donghyuck’s head had just been. 

Donghyuck seems confused but Mark has no time to explain. His body feels like it’s running on overtime and is ready to collapse at any moment. His mind still struggling to wake up isn’t helping him at all, he can barely keep a thought going for more than a few seconds. Annoyed with himself, Mark grits his teeth and considers whether or not he should activate his suit. 

Mark feels Donghyuck’s body go still below his and he looks down at him, intent on asking him what was wrong when he feels it. A sort of buzz of energy surrounding the air, making Mark’s body grow cold. He notices Donghyuck tense slightly before he’s being flipped around so Mark is now the one on the floor with Donghyuck hovering above him. He stares down at him, tilting his head just slightly before he drops down and clings onto Mark, his body covering most of Mark’s. 

Mark can feel his body tingle again and Donghyuck seems to press harder into Mark, almost as if he had felt it too. Mark can’t see much from the way Donghyuck covers him but he can feel the exact moment that Donghyuck gets hit because his shoulder presses slightly more into Mark’s. 

He’s shielding me from getting hit.

“Well, isn’t this interesting.” A deep and menacing voice says from somewhere above him. Donghyuck doesn’t give any reaction to being hit, the only clue Mark has is the hiss of the arrows. Laughter fills Mark’s ears and his skin crawls from the sound of it. Mark struggles against Donghyuck, trying to get him off of him so he can do something besides laying there letting him take all these hits for Mark. Donghyuck doesn’t allow it, his hold on him like a paperweight weighing down on a single loose-leaf piece of paper. 

The laughter stops and the buzzing seems to disperse within thin air. Minutes go by and there’s nothing but silence. It’s only when Mark’s brain finally catches up that he realizes that they’re alone. He pushes against Donghyuck, lips thinning in irritation when Donghyuck doesn’t give. 

“He’s fucking gone, let go!” He huffs pushing harder. Seconds go by and it finally seems to get through Donghyuck because he slowly lifts himself up, looking around quickly. Deeming it safe, he straightens sitting back on the heel of his feet. Mark sits up, watching Donghyuck who is still looking around them cautiously. As he turns slightly, Mark gets a glance at the arrows sticking out of Donghyuck’s back. 

He stands, ignoring the way his head spins from the fast movement and Donghyuck’s hushed warnings. Mark turns around and mutters, “Get on.” waiting for Donghyuck to listen. He sighs when Donghyuck makes no signs of standing up. It must break him out of whatever he was stuck in because Mark feels his arms wrap around his neck a few seconds after. Mark squats down a bit so Donghyuck can properly get on and then they’re off. 

⋆⋆⋆

When Mark’s feet hit the ground, he doesn’t hesitate to step forward almost causing Donghyuck to fall back from the fast movement. Mark can’t bring himself to care, not with the way he’s burning. He takes a few more steps forward, putting some space between him and Donghyuck, before he turns around. 

Mark reaches back, pulling his mask off, holding it in one of his hands. He waits for Donghyuck to do the same but his impatience beats him and he’s talking before he knows it. 

“What the fuck was that, Donghyuck?” He asks, his voice sounding surprisingly calm considering how mad he feels at the moment. Donghyuck’s eyepieces grow smaller as he squints at Mark. 

“What?” Donghyuck croaks out. 

“I said what the fuck was that? Covering me so you could get the hits?” Mark’s breathing is becoming more labored as he struggles to keep his anger controlled. The air around them is humid, as it would be after it rains, and it’s only pissing Mark off more. 

“You mean me saving your ass back there?” Donghyuck’s voice is high, almost as if he can’t believe what Mark is asking him. Mark scoffs, rolling his eyes. “You call that saving me? No. What you did was fucking put your life at risk. Without asking me, may I add.” 

“Put my life at risk?” Donghyuck chuckles without humor and Mark’s eyes narrow as he watches him. “Did you forget that I can’t die, Mark? My life can’t be at risk.” 

“You’re wrong.” 

“I’m wrong?” Donghyuck repeats and Mark nods. He shakes his head at Mark’s action before unceremoniously reaching behind him to grab ahold of one of the many arrows stuck in his back pulling it out. He holds it in his hand before dropping it onto the grass below their feet. 

“Did you see that? You see how I just took that out without blinking an eye? It’s because I can’t die, Mark. It doesn’t matter what the fuck happens to me, I’ll come back from it.” He says and then begins coughing. They’re loud wet coughs, that almost sound like gurgles. Mark rushes over, his chest tight with worry at the sound of them but Donghyuck pushes his hands away when Mark reaches for him opting to reach for his mask instead, finally removing it. He throws it somewhere behind him before falling down onto his knees, still coughing. 

Mark watches him as he doubles over, a hand covering his mouth as he coughs. Even in the dark Mark can make out the blood staining Donghyuck’s hand. He falls down besides Donghyuck trying to figure out what to do but after a few more coughs Donghyuck turns his face to the side and heaves, throwing up. 

This seems to end Donghyuck’s coughing because after he’s finished throwing up, he just breathes in deeply. They sound more like wheezes to Mark but he’d rather take that then whatever just happened. 

“See? I told you, I’m invincible.” He whispers, voice weak and words wet. 

“You’re impossible,” Mark says and Donghyuck lifts his head slightly so he can meet Mark’s eyes. “You act so recklessly just because you know you can. You keep throwing yourself into any given situation because you know you’ll live regardless of what it is. A dangerous situation is still a fucking dangerous situation, Donghyuck. Maybe stop and think about it before you decide to walk into it.” 

Donghyuck’s face twists and Mark is almost confused on whether it's from pain or anger until he sees the burning in his eyes. “What are you trying to say? That I should’ve left your ass vulnerable to that guy? Should’ve just sat there and watched as he took his shots at you? Is that what you wanted?” He spits at Mark. 

“That’s not what I’m saying at all. What I’m trying to say is that you just do whatever you want without asking anyone else. You didn’t even ask me if I wanted you to cover me.” 

“Well god forbid I acted first, wanting to keep you alive, rather than asking you beforehand.” 

“It’s funny, Donghyuck.” Mark lets out a short, humorless laugh. “What you did back there was a very hero-like, for someone who swears they’re not one.” He looks over Donghyuck’s face, noticing the way his jaw is tight. 

“Are you sure you’re not a hero, after all?” He asks and if looks could kill, Mark would be dead right now. He has to resist the shiver that crawls up his spine with the way Donghyuck is glaring at him. 

“I know what I am, Mark. And I’m not a hero and I never will be.” He turns his head slightly and spits. Mark almost feels as if he’s spitting at the thought of even becoming a hero as if it the most repulsive thing he’s heard. When he turns back to Mark, his eyes are still burning but not as before. 

“I am not going to apologize for covering you from getting hit if that’s what you want.” 

“That’s not what I want!” Mark exclaims, exasperated. He runs his empty hand through his hair, annoyed at the fact that Donghyuck doesn’t get it. 

“You just don’t get it, do you? Your life isn’t a toy you can play with, Donghyuck. Your life matters, every single one you have. Why can’t you see that?” 

“It’s my life, Mark. I think I know what I can and can’t do.” 

“But you don’t, you just act without thinking and I’m sick of it. Sick of you hurting yourself any chance you get. Sick of having to see you do it and act like it’s okay.” Mark knows that he’s said the wrong thing when Donghyuck squares his shoulders and looks at Mark in a way he never has before. 

“Talk to Taeyong then. Tell him that you’re done with this game he’s forced you to play. Tell him to send me away. He’d do it for you, you know. He’d do anything for you if you asked.” 

“But I don’t want that.” 

“Of course it is, you just said it after all. You want me to act in a way I won’t so I’d rather leave. I’d take that then have to change myself to fit into your standards.” 

“That’s not what I said, Donghyuck.” Mark rushes. “I just want you to stop hurting yourself for me or for anyone else, just because you can.” 

“Fucking hypocrite. As if you don’t do the same, Spiderman.” Donghyuck says, shakily standing up. He sways slightly as he stands still, looking down at Mark. 

“As if all you avengers don’t do the same every time you go play the hero. All of you look down at me as if I’m sick for wanting to protect someone. If I can save someone’s life by putting mine at risk then I’ll gladly do it. Knowing that I can die and live again is just a bonus.” And with that Donghyuck walks towards the house, without another glance at Mark. 

When Mark finally comes to his senses, calling out Donghyuck’s name, he’s already stepped into the house. Leaving the door wide open, and Mark feeling more lost than he’s ever been before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello !! I'm posting this now without having reread it because if I do then I'll end up hating it and delete it so I'll come back and edit through it later so pls ignore any mistakes. Thank you guys for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave me any thoughts down below and follow me on twitter (@mvrkslee) to see any updates on the fic. :D


	10. coffee and bad decisions

Mark struggles to hold back the yawn building in his throat as he waits for his class to start. It grows until Mark has no choice but to give in, closing his eyes momentarily as he yawns. “Tired?” A familiar voice teases him making Mark’s eyes shoot open. He has to blink a couple of times before his eyes finally focus. 

“Minho?” He asks, confused if he was seeing things correctly. Minho hadn’t stepped into their math class in over a week making Mark believe he had dropped the class. 

“The one and only," he replies, a small smile on his face. Minho sits down in the seat next to Mark and begins to rummage through his book bag while Mark just continues to stare at him. He can't help but notice the change in Minho, his usual sculpture-like cheeks almost seemed to be sunken in, deep bags under his eyes, and his skin a sickly pale. Minho looks up catching Mark's eyes and raises a questioning eyebrow.

"What?" He asks chuckling to himself, awkwardly. 

"You're sick." Mark tries to ask but it comes out sounding more like a statement rather than a question. "Something like that," Minho replies, shrugging. 

“Something like that,” Mark mocks him making Minho reach out and shove him, jokingly. “No, but seriously, dude you should’ve just stayed home again.” Mark continues and Minho rolls his eyes. 

“I should be saying the same thing to you, you look like you haven’t slept in ages. Your eyebags are worse than mine and that’s saying a lot.” 

“There’s no way my eyebags are worse when yours look like that.” 

“Yeah? Look in the mirror and try to tell me that again.” 

Mark opens his mouth to respond when their professor walks in, the class falling into silence and cutting Mark off. Minho smiles at him, almost as if he was saying he won this talk, and Mark just sighs before turning back towards the front. 

⋆⋆⋆

“I need another coffee,” Mark mutters to himself as he slumps back into his chair. “You’ve already had two, what you need is sleep,” Minho says glancing up from his notebook. 

“So what I’m hearing is that I need another coffee.” Mark looks around the coffee shop, the bright colors on the wall hurting his eyes. They’ve been here for a couple of hours now after Mark offered to help catch up Minho on all the material he had missed. For the most part, they had sat in silence, Minho writing notes and working on practice problems while Mark tried to get ahead on his readings, occasionally speaking whenever Minho had a question. 

"Absolutely not, I think you should go home and sleep for the next 12 hours." 

"It'd be a miracle if I even get four," At that Minho stops writing and puts his pencil down, putting all his attention on Mark. 

"Okay dude, we're friends, right? One of the few I have actually so that means I care about you, regardless of the time I've known you. So seeing you like this is concerning, what's got you all worked up like this?" He says, his eyes on Mark's. 

"I don't really know," Mark says so quietly that he's unsure of whether or not Minho heard him. He must have though because Minho sighs and slightly leans forward, maintaining eye contact with Mark. 

"Is it a class? Are you having trouble at home?" Minho pauses and looks around quickly before lowering his voice. "Are you...possibly sobering from something?" 

Mark's eyes widen hearing Minho's suggestion. "Wh-What?! No, I'm clean and have been clean." Mark rushes to say and Minho leans back, his face relieved. 

"I just wanted to make sure but seriously, what is it?" 

Mark shrugs, "Honestly, I think I'm on the verge of getting sick. It's getting colder nowadays and with it comes the flu I always catch." 

Minho's eyes scan over Mark's face looking for something that he doesn't seem to find because after a moment he smiles. "Is that it? Have you taken any medicine? Went to the doctor yet?" 

"No, I guess I'm just waiting for it to hit me so I can get it over with," Mark lies, even sniffing for effect and Minho seems to believe him because he nods. 

"That makes sense, I still think you should go home though. We've been here for what? Over two hours now?" Minho looks down to check the time on his phone, whistling lightly after seeing the hour. 

"Yeah, definitely held you hostage here for longer than I should have," He says sheepishly, meeting Mark's eyes once more. "Nah, I offered besides what kind of friend would I be if I didn't help you out." 

"Okay, so as a good friend you'll listen to me and go home to sleep now?" Minho asks as he begins to pack up his things, closing his notebook, and putting his pencils, pens, and highlighters away into his pouch. 

"I'll try," Mark follows Minho and starts packing up. He's in the middle of shoving his textbook into his backpack when Minho offers his notebook back to him. 

Mark pushes it back towards him, shaking his head. "Keep it, you can give it back to me tomorrow or whenever you finish." 

Minho's eyes widen slightly at that, "Are you sure?" He asks and Mark nods. 

"Yeah, it's cool." 

"Thanks, Mark." Minho flashes him a bright smile before putting it into his backpack. 

Mark smiles back, stretching his arms above his head before standing up wincing slightly at the burn he feels in his legs. He reaches over to grab his backpack, slipping it on as Minho does the same. They grab their empty cups and throw them away on their way out. 

They walk in silence on the way to their cars, Mark trying to ignore how badly his legs burn with every step he takes. Minho doesn't seem to notice Mark's pain because he doesn't mention it. 

"Mark seriously please try to sleep a bit more tonight. Sleep is important when you're sick as your body heals itself while you sleep." Minho says to Mark as he reaches into his pocket for his keys. 

"Don't worry about me, I'll try to sleep. You try to do the same, yeah? It's frightening how pale you are." Mark grins as Minho's mouth falls open slightly. 

"You're such an ass, Mark. I can't believe you'd say that to me." Minho shoves him forward so Mark stumbles into his car door, giggling as it happens. 

"As your friend, I'm obligated to do so." 

"Oh yeah? And as your friend, I can tell you how much I hate your hair right now. You definitely need a trim," Minho yells out as he walks over to his car, a couple of cars down from where Mark's was parked. 

"You think so?" Mark yells back. 

"Oh, I know so. Please do us all a favor and schedule a hair appointment soon." 

"Whatever Minho, drive safely!" Mark watches as Minho waves, waving back before they both get into their cars and drive away. 

⋆⋆⋆

Mark hates the silence in the house. He used to bask in it, loving the feeling of coming home and knowing that regardless of the type of day he'd had, he'd have his quiet house to come to. Somewhere where he could concentrate on his thoughts and not have anyone interrupt him. 

But ever since Donghyuck moved in, the house had stopped being quite. Donghyuck had made sure of it. He almost always had the living room television on, playing whatever show he was currently invested in. If it wasn't that, he'd have music playing from the speaker system Mark had never dared to touch. Whatever it was, the house was hardly ever quiet but for the last week, the house had been in dead silence just as it had been before Donghyuck. 

At first, it didn't even register to Mark what was bothering him until he dropped a plate in the kitchen and it shattered. The sound resonated throughout the room, and it stayed ringing in Mark's ears long after he was done cleaning up the pieces. He realized how empty the house seemed without Donghyuck's presence. It's like he had packed all his things and left without a warning. 

Mark knew that wasn't the case, that Donghyuck was still there, holed up in his room, only coming out whenever Mark wasn't there or late into the night when he thought he was dead asleep. They haven't seen each other since that night, much less talked since then. That also meant they hadn't gone patrolling.

Mark had been meaning to but with Donghyuck and him not on speaking terms it hadn't sat well with him to go alone. So instead, he stayed out for as long as he could. Going to the library after his classes and staying there until there was only a handful of people left. Driving around aimlessly just so he wouldn't have to go home. He got home late and sat on his desk, working on stuff until the sun crept up. 

Today was no different. After parting ways with Minho, Mark had driven around town for a while only deciding to go home when he couldn't see clearly anymore. The sun is long gone, the night dark with only a sliver of the moon for light. Pulling into the driveway of the house, Mark barely noticed a thing as he walked in. Taking off his shoes quickly he makes his way over to the kitchen, intent on making himself another coffee only he freezes as he realizes that Donghyuck is sitting at the kitchen island, eating cereal. 

His back is facing Mark and he has his airpods in, watching something on his phone as he eats, unaware of Mark's presence. Mark swallows hard as he watches him, wondering if getting his coffee is worth it. Donghyuck laughs quietly at something on his screen which breaks Mark's daze. He takes one last look at him, taking in the way his hair is curly in a way that he's never seen it in the months he's known him, before walking away as quietly as possible. 

He makes an effort to close his door as softly as he can, breathing out and falling back against it. It's pitch black in there, and Mark seems to find solace in it, in the way that it grounds him and lets him breathe a bit clearer. His hand reaches out blindly looking for the light switch, flicking it on when his fingers find it.

The light blinds him momentarily and he blinks trying to get his eyes adjusted to it. Once they do, Mark sighs as he realizes how messy his room is. As much as the mess bothers Mark, he doesn't have it in him to clean it up. Instead, he walks over to his bed and falls onto it, face first. He groans at the feeling of his body sinking into the soft mattress. Now that he's laying there, nothing else taking up his mind, he can tell just how tired his body really is. 

From the pain in his legs to the ache in his back, his whole body is screaming at him to sleep. And he really wishes he could, it'd be so easy to right now. Just close his eyes and succumb to the tiredness filling his body. Only he's scared. Scared of what sleep will bring. 

He knows what'll happen if he fell asleep right now. Knows exactly what he'd see in his dreams and it terrifies him. Terrifies him so much that he'd do anything but sleep which is what he's been doing. He's been running on coffee and energy drinks, only getting one or two hours of sleep, waking up before the dream could begin to set. Just the thought of it makes Mark's body grow cold and he opens his eyes, blinking the sleep away. 

There's not much Mark could do right now. He could stay up doing more readings, clean his room, maybe just lay here and stare at his ceiling... or he could go out on patrol. Yeah, he could do that. He forces himself to sit up, ignoring the burn he feels as he walks. He pulls on his suit in record time and is in the process of pulling on his mask when he hears footsteps. He goes still, his heart racing as they get closer. 

They continue down the hall and Mark rushes to fix his mask, not wasting any time to open up his window and jump out. 

⋆⋆⋆

It seemed as if there wasn't much for Spiderman to do tonight. Everywhere he swung, it was quiet. The closest thing he had gotten to doing was stopping a man from stealing in the convenience store he had stepped in. He was just trying to buy a coffee but had walked in to see a man holding a crying woman at gunpoint. The man hadn't put up much of a fight, dropping the gun as soon as Mark had asked him to. The woman in return had gifted him the coffee to show him her gratitude to wish Mark was thankful. 

The coffee was now long gone, its effects also diminishing. Mark’s arms stung with every swing to the point he decided it was time for a break. He swings some more until he comes across a suitable rooftop building he could rest on. Mark lands less gracefully than he would like to admit, his legs almost immediately giving out. He crumbles onto the floor suddenly feeling all the exhaustion hit him at once. 

Mark gasps, trying to calm his breathing before he ends up panicking. He looks around the rooftop for things to focus on to ground himself. It’s mostly empty, three big trash cans pushed into a corner next to the elevator opening, and some colored containers and boxes. Through teary eyes Mark tries to focus on the containers, there’s four of them stacked on top of each other. The bottom is black with a yellow top, the next a bright orange, followed by another black and on top is a grey one. Mark breathes in as he counts each one, breathing out when he says their color. 

“This is pretty pathetic for our so-called ‘city’s hero’, don’t you think?” A voice says, breaking Mark’s counting. Before Mark can even think about moving, he feels his body from the neck down go cold in a way he’s never experienced before. He tries to stand up but finds that he can’t, his body is immobile almost as if an invincible force was pushing and holding him down in place. A strangled noise escapes Mark’s throat as he struggles against it, his breathing spiking once more. 

“There’s no use struggling,” Mark hears the same voice say, “you won’t be able to move until I want you to.” It’s then that he reveals himself, flying down in front of Mark. He’s wearing his usual attire, dressed in black from head to toe, only now Mark can see the thin piece of metal stretched out underneath each boot, resembling a surfboard. When he lands on the ground, the metal clicks, folding into itself before attaching to the side of the boot. A hood covers most of his face, the only thing visible to Mark is his chin. 

“It’s pretty hilarious to me seeing you like this. I mean you’re talked so highly of and yet you’re still so… human. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw you on the brink of a panic attack.” He holds his hands behind his back, walking a few steps closer to where Mark was. “It was just too easy to get you like this, but I guess I have you to thank for that because any other time, I’m sure you would’ve put up a much bigger fight than today.” 

He tilts his head back slightly, almost as if he were looking over Mark’s body, before speaking. “Besides the point, could you be so kind and tell me where your friend is at?” Mark’s eyebrows pull together in confusion, as his jumbled brain tries to process what he just said. 

“Friend?” Mark croaks, the word burning his throat. 

“Your friend in the other red suit.” If Mark wasn’t currently being held down then he’s sure his body would’ve gone still at that. Whoever this was, they weren’t looking for Mark. They were looking for Donghyuck. 

“Have no idea who you’re talking about.” 

The man scoffs at that. He straightens and steps back before walking slowly in a circle. “As much as I love games I do not have time for them tonight. Tell me where he is.” 

“No.” 

He stops walking, his back facing Mark and that’s when Mark feels it. It’s a sort of burning sensation in his legs that licks its way up his legs, stopping at his knees. Mark chokes, feeling the pain in his lower legs grow more intense with every second that passes. Mark’s eyes scan over his body frantically trying to find the source of the burn but nothing’s there. He can only see his suit and nothing else. 

“I’ll ask you again. Where is the boy?” He says as he begins to walk again. Mark grits his teeth to stop himself from screaming, “No,” he repeats. There’s no warning this time as the burn begins to lick it’s way up once more and Mark has no experience but he could swear that this is what being burned alive would feel like. There’s sweat pouring down Mark’s face and he’s moved to biting his tongue so hard that he can taste blood. 

A soft buzzing noise fills Mark’s ears and he sees the man stop again. He looks over at Mark and the licking stops climbing, now mid-thigh. “It’s a pity I must go so soon. I hadn’t even started yet.” He shakes his head. 

“As a parting gift.” He extends his glove covered hand forward so Mark can see it before clenching it. In the same moment, Mark feels the clamp on him tighten so much that he hears a few bones break. He can’t stop the blood-curling scream that escapes his mouth before everything goes dark. 

⋆⋆⋆

When he comes to Mark wakes up with a gasp sitting up quickly. He pats himself down with a trembling hand trying to figure out the gravity of his injuries. His suit has burned patches all throughout his legs and they hurt to the touch. He hisses as his fingers touch the exposed skin, it's red and ugly. 

"Fucking hell," he mutters as he tries to get a better look at it, only when he leans forward he feels a sharp pain in his chest. He leans back so his back is against the wall, tentatively touching around his chest. When he presses down on a particular spot it hurts worse and he becomes aware of the sick wet sound he releases with every exhale. 

Gritting his teeth, he braces himself twisting slightly to grab ahold of the top of the ledge ignoring the searing pain in his chest. He manages to get himself up, leaning on the ledge for support. Taking a shaky breath he closes his eyes murmuring a prayer before flinging a web and launching himself off. 

When he finally lands at the house, he's panting and sweating like crazy. Although it couldn't have taken him over fifteen minutes it felt like hours to Mark. He falls on his knees, a hand on the floor to stop him from collapsing, head down as he counts his breaths. When he doesn't feel like he's going to pass out, he pushes himself up slowly walking over to his window. 

Pulling it open he pushes the curtains away before climbing in. 

"How can you not fucking find him? Did you not put a tracker in his suit?" Donghyuck asks, his back to Mark. He's dressed in his Deadpool suit minus the mask that Mark can see is on his bed. 

"Donghyuck I already told you I did but something's interfering with my system. I know he's out there but it won't show me where," Taeyong's voice sounds through the loudspeaker of Donghyuck's phone. 

"You're the best of the best when it comes to technology and you got hacked? You literally own Lee Industry for God's sake, how did that even happen?" Donghyuck exclaims, running a hand through his hair. He turns, eyes growing large when they land on Mark who's standing in front of his open window, frozen. 

"I did not get hacked. Something is blocking the tracker's signal and I can't unblock it unless we have him physically present." 

"He's here." Donghyuck drops the phone on the floor, rushing over to Mark. He doesn't hesitate to pull Mark to him, embracing him tightly. Mark gasps at the tightness, the pain in his chest increasing and Donghyuck let's go immediately. 

"What's wrong? Are you hurt?" He asks, stepping back to look him over. His lips thin as he takes in Mark's state. Taeyong in the background is calling out Donghyuck's name, asking him if Mark is okay, but Donghyuck ignores him. 

"Take your mask off." And the way he says it tells Mark that there's no room for arguing so Mark raises a trembling hand and pulls it off letting it fall onto the carpet. Donghyuck doesn't say anything as he stares at Mark before turning and going to pick up his phone. 

"Taeyong? He's here hurt but still alive." 

"Donghyuck, listen to me. You need to look at the suit and try to find whatever's messing with my signal. I have no idea what it may look like but you'll know when you find it." Taeyong says quickly, and Mark can hear faint clicking as if Taeyong were typing away. 

Donghyuck walks back over to Mark handing him the phone as he begins patting down Mark. Mark stands still, trying not to wince as Donghyuck presses onto his chest. He continues patting his way down until he turns Mark over and does the same thing. His hands still as they brush over Mark's neck. "Found it." Donghyuck breathes out and the clicking stops. 

"Describe it." 

"It's… you can't really see it-- it's like it's part of the suit but I touched it and now I can sort of make out the shape." 

Taeyong hums, typing again. "Mark needs to get out of it. You both need to leave as soon as possible. I'm almost certain it's a tracking device but I can't risk having you two wait until I get there to find out. Grab any items that would show your identities and get out. I'm programming Mark's car with the location of one of my safe houses for you to go to." 

"Okay," Donghyuck grabs the phone out of Mark's hand and motions for Mark to take off his suit. He goes over to Mark's closet grabbing a hoodie and a pair of sweats before going back to Mark who's struggling to pull his arms out of his sleeves. 

Donghyuck places the items on the floor before helping Mark. He makes a sort of low sound in his throat as Mark pulls the suit down and when Mark looks down he realizes there are big ugly purple bruises decorating his sides. He doesn't say anything but continues helping Mark out of the suit, making sure he doesn't fall as he gets his legs out. 

"Taeyong?" Donghyuck calls out, helping Mark pull on the hoodie before handing him the sweatpants. 

"Yes, Donghyuck?" 

"I'm pretty sure we're going to need Doyoung, there's a lot of bruising on his rib area. Whenever he breathes out there's a wet sort of sound and his legs are pretty burned as well." 

Taeyong's typing stops again. "I texted him as soon as you called just in case. He's already on his way, he'll probably get there before me as he was closer." 

"Can I give him anything for the pain?" Donghyuck asks wrapping an arm around Mark, helping him walk. 

"I'm not sure, grab any painkillers you have and take them with you. The car is all ready to go so hurry." 

"Okay, I'm taking him to the car right now," Donghyuck says and they walk over to the garage, Donghyuck doing most of the work. Once Mark is seated in the car, Taeyong asks to speak with Mark. Donghyuck hands him the phone, telling him he'll be back with everything they need. 

"Mark?" Taeyong asks, in a softer voice than before. 

Mark clears his throat, licking his dry lips. "Taeyong," he breathes out. 

"You're going to be fine, Mark. Do you hear me? Doyoung will be there in an hour and he'll look you over and treat you. He'll make you're okay." 

"I'm fine, Taeyong. You don't have to worry about me, I'll heal." 

"You can't ask me not to worry when you do this Mark. Donghyuck was worried out of his mind when he realized you were gone and so was your suit." 

"I-I didn't mean to do that. I was giving him space, didn't think it'd be a bad night." 

Taeyong sighs and Mark closes his eyes, his hand tightening around Donghyuck's phone. "There's so much we need to talk about but that can wait. What's important now is that you're alive and we need to keep it that way. Once I land, I'll go over to the house and check out the suit to see what they planted on you." 

"Okay."

"Donghyuck will make sure nothing happens to you in the meantime. I'll go to the safe house with you after that, and then you can tell me about what happened. For now, try to rest I'm waiting on Doyoung's instructions regarding the medicine." 

Mark nods uselessly because Taeyong can't see him but Donghyuck opens the car door, getting in and throwing the bags filled with things into the back. He quickly turns on the car before opening the garage door. 

"Okay, Taeyong we're headed there now." 

"Good, I'll let you go now as I need to call the others and let them know we have Mark. You call me if anything happens, Donghyuck." 

"I will, Taeyong." 

"I'm trusting Mark's life on you if anything happens to him…" Taeyong trails off in a warning. 

"Don't worry, he's safe with me. They'll have to get through me before they get to him again." 

"Good." And with that Taeyong ends the call as Donghyuck begins to drive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, this is heavily unbetaed so it's probably brimming with mistakes but I really have no time to look it over so that'll have to wait. I wanted to get this chapter up because it's long overdue and I feel bad for making you wait so long. I hope you enjoyed it and it wasn't a bore to read. Please tell me your thoughts below and or if you have any questions you can send me some ccs. See you guys next time :D


	11. safe house

When Mark comes to again, he does it with a pained gasp. His eyes shoot open and he immediately tries sitting up but when he tries to push himself up, he feels a pinching sensation in his left hand that stops him. Lifting his hand up slowly through blurry eyes he realizes he has an IV line attached to the back of it. Without thinking, Mark reaches out with his right hand to rip it off but before he can, a hand wraps itself around Mark’s wrist stopping him.

Mark begins to struggle against it but almost immediately he hears them shush him. “Hey hey hey, calm down,” they whisper and through Mark’s hazy mind he seems to recognize the voice. “It’s okay, Mark. You’re fine. It’s me, Doyoung.” They continue and sure enough when Mark looks over he can make out a very blurry Doyoung. 

“Doyoung?” Mark croaks and it almost hurts to talk from how dry his throat is. 

“Doyoung.” He nods and Mark relaxes, his body relaxing back into the mattress. Doyoung’s eyes sweep over Mark’s face for a few seconds before he seems to deem Mark calm enough and finally releases his hold on Mark’s wrist. Mark lets it fall down, watching as it hits his stomach and is slightly surprised when he doesn’t feel anything. 

“Mark? Do you know where you are? Can you tell me?” Doyoung questions, making Mark look back up to meet his eyes. 

“Safe house.” Mark mumbles, remembering Taeyong mentioning it while he was on the phone with Donghyuck. He doesn’t exactly know where said safe house is, come to think of it Mark doesn’t remember much after that. 

“Good. So you do remember,” Doyoung extends a hand forward and Mark can’t help but flinch at the movement, making Doyoung stop as he watches him cautiously. 

“I won’t hurt you, Mark. You know that, right?” He asks in a softer voice than before and Mark squeezes his eyes shut at his words. Of course he knows that. Knows that Doyoung would never hurt him. 

“I would never do anything to hurt you. I just want to feel your temperature, is that alright?” He asks in the same soft voice and Mark nods once, his eyes still closed. Soon after Mark feels Doyoung’s hand against his forehead, the cool feeling nice against it. 

“You feel a bit warm but nothing too hot. Do you feel any pain?” 

“No.” Mark answers. “Thirsty though,” 

“Let me get you some water.” Doyoung removes his hand and Mark’s eyes flutter open watching as Doyoung’s back as he walks away. He comes back a few minutes later with a straw and a waterbottle. He helps Mark sit up so his back is against the headboard before holding the bottle in place for Mark to drink. 

“Easy, the water isn’t going anywhere. Take your time.” Doyoung tells him after Mark sucks for a few seconds. Mark listens to him, swallowing slower and soon enough the bottle is empty. Doyoung places it on the bedside table before helping Mark lay back down. 

“You should sleep. The longer you sleep the quicker you will heal. When you’re asleep your body is working double as quickly to heal itself than when you’re awake.” He explains tucking Mark in. “Your body already heals faster than the average human being due to your spidey abilities so think of it as your body healing four times as fast.” 

“Doyoung? Is Taeyong here yet?” He whispers staring up at the ceiling and he feels Doyoung’s hands still momentarily before continuing their tucking in. 

“He’s still at your house but should be heading this way anytime now. He’s making sure the device planted on you will not be able to disclose any information.” 

“And Donghyuck? Is he okay?” 

“He’s fine, sleeping currently. Had to give him something so he would, he was very adamant on staying by your side until you woke up.” 

Mark smiles at that, definitely sounds like Donghyuck. 

"Now sleep, before I give you something too." Doyoung threatens, coming to stand by Mark's side again. Mark's eyes flicker over to him, taking in the tiredness in his eyes. 

"You should sleep too," he tells him and Doyoung smiles, his gums showing and it reminds Mark of a bunny. 

"I will," 

"Promise?" 

"Promise." 

Mark closes his eyes and lets the numbness lead him to sleep. 

⋆⋆⋆

The next time Mark wakes up he feels a slight ache throughout his whole body. He lets out a small groan at the feeling before opening his eyes. 

"Mark?" 

Mark turns his head in the direction of the voice and comes to face with Taeyong. The first thing he notices is his hair, a bright blue color that resembles the ocean on a bright day. Then as his eyes sweep over his face Mark realizes just how tired he looks. There are deep bags underneath his eyes, showing the lack of sleep he must be getting recently. His cheeks even seem slimmer, his lips chapped, and Mark can't help but frown. 

"Excuse my bluntness sir, but you look like shit." Mark tells him, ignoring the way his voice cracks as he does. He watches, waiting for a reaction but Taeyong just stares at him, his gaze heavy on Mark. 

Mark clears his throat nervously when a minute passes by and Taeyong still doesn't say anything. "I was joking." He says meekly, looking away from Taeyong and up at the ceiling. 

Unsure of whether or not he crossed a line he was not meant to pass Mark waits uncomfortably in silence. The seconds pass by feeling like hours and finally after what feels like a lifetime to Mark he hears Taeyong breath out roughly. He doesn't look over to look at him, afraid of seeing him upset, but he doesn't have to because a moment later he feels Taeyong reach over and wrap himself around Mark in a half hug. 

Mark stiffens, unsure of whether he should hug him back but before he could decide Taeyong pulls away sitting back in his chair. 

"Mark," He repeats, his voice wavering. 

"Mr. Lee," Mark says, turning to meeting his eyes once more. Taeyong smiles at him, it's a small sad smile but Mark can't help but smile in return. 

"I'm glad you're okay, Mark." 

"I told you I would be, didn't I?" 

Taeyong chuckles, his eyes crinkling. "You did, I remember." 

"Exactly, you don't need to worry about me." 

"I'm not sure about that, your judgment isn't the best when it comes to taking care of yourself," Taeyong tells him and Mark's smile falters. 

"I agree," Doyoung says, coming in through the open door Mark hadn't noticed before. Mark frowns as he watches Doyoung walk over to stand next to Taeyong. 

"I think I would know myself the best, thank you very much."

"Is that why you're so dehydrated and sleep deprived that it's practically a miracle you're still alive?" Doyoung asks, and Mark's mouth goes dry. Taeyong reaches out and jabs Doyoung's ribs in a silent warning but Doyoung swats his hand away. 

"Not now, Doyoung." 

"Yes now, Taeyong. We have to talk to him eventually, might as well do it now." 

They stare at each other and something passes between them before Taeyong sighs looking away, leaving Doyoung smiling smugly in return. 

"Explain." 

Mark looks between the two, both of them are staring at him waiting for his response a response he doesn't have. 

When Mark doesn't say anything, Doyoung sighs rubbing his face. "Look we're not scolding you-" he says but Taeyong cuts him off, "You definitely are scolding him right now." 

"Taeyong shut up." 

"I'm just saying," Taeyong shrugs and Doyoung rolls his eyes before continuing, "We aren't scolding you, we're just worried about you." 

"We want to help you Mark but in order to do that, we need you to tell us what's happening." 

The room suddenly feels too small and Mark hates it. He looks away beginning to play with his fingers, a habit of his whenever he got nervous. Mark wonders what he should say. Does he tell them the reason he wasn’t eating was because he was avoiding Donghyuck. Was avoiding Donghyuck because they had fought and instead of resolving it like the two adults they were, he had decided to avoid it the best he could. Tell them the reason he wasn’t sleeping was because he was scared. Completely and utterly terrified of what sleep brought him every night. 

There’s no way he can tell them about that. They would be disappointed that Mark had waited this long to tell them, especially after Mark had promised. Mark shakes his head before breathing out slowly. He doesn’t look away from his hands when he speaks. 

“Donghyuck and I had a fight? A disagreement.” He tells them, unsure of what else to tell them. 

“Okay...so you stopped eating and sleeping because of it?” Doyoung questions after Mark takes a moment too long too continue. 

“Yeah, I guess so?” Mark responds, hoping they’ll believe him. 

Mark looks over taking in their confused expressions. “What caused you two to argue?” Taeyong asks, his eyebrows pulled together in worry. Fuck. 

Taeyong didn’t know about that night. Mark had forgotten to call him to tell him about it, too preoccupied with the fight between Donghyuck and him. 

“He doesn’t want to be part of the Avengers, no matter how hard I try to convince him,” Mark lies. 

“Ahhh,” Taeyong lets out, sinking back into the chair. “I knew he was going to be hard to get to but I didn’t think it would be this hard.” 

Mark nods, playing along with it. “It’s like he hates even the thought of becoming one.” 

“He’s too hard on himself, he needs to realize that.” Doyoung breathes and Taeyoung nods, agreeing. “He definitely is. I thought Mark would help, be able to get to him.” 

“If anyone can, it’ll be Mark. They just need time.” 

“Time?” Taeyong asks, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. “It’s been a couple months now and there’s little to no improvement. Not that I blame Mark, I just don’t know if it’s even possible for Donghyuck to forgive himself.” 

Forgive himself? 

“You know it’ll take a lot more than a couple months for that to happen. Donghyuck won’t just wake up one day and realize he didn’t do anything bad. He needs to come to the conclusion slowly, at his own pace.” 

“I know--I know.”

Doyoung turns back to look at Mark, his eyes sweeping over Mark’s face. “I need you to start putting yourself first, Mark. It’s not healthy to just randomly stop eating or sleeping.” 

“Yes, Doyoung.” 

“And I mean it, Mark. I don’t want to see you like this again or else I’ll be forced to plan out your schedule down to the dot.” 

Mark nods and Doyoung’s face softens. 

“Mark, if you think this thing with Donghyuck is too much please let me know. I don’t want you to be stressed over it. One of us can take over at any time.” Mark’s eyes flicker over to Taeyong, his face serious. 

“It’s fine, Mr. Lee. I can handle it.” 

“You don’t have to feel obligated to convince him. I know you’re busy with school-” 

“Mr. Lee? I swear it’s fine, no need to worry.” Mark cuts him off. Taeyong stares at him his mouth slightly agape and Mark wishes he knew what he was looking for. Mark swallows nervously, forcing himself to not play with his fingers and to not break eye contact. 

“Alright but if it ever gets too much for you, you need to tell me immediately. I won’t be mad or upset, okay?” 

“Of course, sir.” 

Taeyong nods once and Mark relaxes. 

Doyoung claps his hands together before saying, “Okay! Well, I’m going to do a quick check-up on you and remove your IV line so we can get you upstairs and some food in you.” 

⋆⋆⋆

Doyoung helps Mark walk into the elevator and explains where they are. It’s one of the side businesses that Taeyong owns, the building located on the outskirts of the city. When Taeyong had the building made, he built a safe house underneath it. There were three total layers to it: the first consisted of a kitchen and living room area, the following held most of the rooms, and the lowest was where Taeyong kept most of his equipment and backup items incase of an emergency along with a couple more rooms. 

While Doyoung had been doing his check up on Mark, Taeyong had gone ahead to go cook for all of them so when the elevator doors opened Mark was engulfed with the smell of eggs. Doyoung wraps a hand around Mark’s torso and helps him step out of the elevator. Mark looks up ready to thank Doyoung when he hears someone call out his name. He looks over in the direction of the voice and stiffens when he comes face to face with Donghyuck across the room. 

Time seems to slow down, everything around them reducing to a soft hum, as they stare at each other. Donghyuck’s hair is disheveled, eyes and cheeks puffy from sleep Mark presumes. Then Donghyuck is racing over to him and Mark faintly hears Taeyong telling him to not run before Donghyuck is right there, in front of him. Doyoung lets his arm drop from Mark and then Donghyuck is pulling Mark towards him into a hug. 

Donghyuck holds onto Mark as if he were scared of him disappearing, fitting his face in the space between Mark’s shoulder and neck. “Mark,” Donghyuck whispers into his neck and Mark shivers at the feeling. The action seems to wake up Mark because he slowly returns the hug, wrapping his arms around Donghyuck. 

“Mark,” Donghyuck repeats. 

“Donghyuck,” Mark breathes out and Donghyuck’s arms tighten around him. 

They stand there for a few more moments until Doyoung clears his throat behind them. “This is cute and all but our food is going to get cold.” He tells them and Taeyong yells at him from the kitchen. “Let them have their moment, Doyoung!” 

“I’m just saying, if they want to eat cold food then they can continue standing there.” Mark watches as he walks away from them, towards the kitchen where Taeyong is. Donghyuck breathes in deeply but doesn't move and Mark realizes he's shaking. Mark tentatively rubs his back, unsure of what else to do. 

"Hey, you're fine," Mark whispers into his hair and Donghyuck sniffles. Mark feels him nod before he tilts his neck back slightly, just enough for him to be able to look at Mark. His eyes scan Mark's face before finally landing on his eyes. 

"You're okay?" he asks, his voice soft barely above a whisper. Mark nods and Donghyuck relaxes in his arms. 

"I'm glad you're fine…" he trails off, eyes shifting to look at something behind Mark, "was worried." 

Mark doesn't say anything, doesn't know if he should even say something. He's confused on why Donghyuck is acting like this when they've been avoiding each other like the plague recently. 

"Okay kids come over now, you can have your little moment later," Doyoung calls out and Donghyuck looks back over at Mark. He wordlessly moves himself so he can wrap his arm around Mark's torso, holding most of his weight. Together they make their way over to the table, Donghyuck even helping Mark into his chair. Donghyuck slides into the chair next to him. 

"Thank you," Mark murmurs to Donghyuck and Donghyuck shoots him a small smile in return. 

When Mark looks up, he finds Taeyong staring at him with a knowing look in his eyes. He raises his eyebrows at him but Taeyong shakes his head slightly, his lips pursed slightly as if her were trying not to laugh. Looking over at Doyoung, Mark realizes that he has the same expression as Taeyong, an inside joke running between the two. 

Before Mark can even ask, Doyoung’s face shifts becoming more serious as he looks at Mark. “I expect you to leave the plate spotless, Mark.” He looks over at Donghyuck. “Same goes for you, Donghyuck. Both of you need to eat everything.” 

Donghyuck doesn’t say anything, he just rolls his eyes before picking up his spoon and beginning to eat. Mark follows him, scooping some rice and shoving it in his mouth. Doyoung watches the two of them for a moment longer before digging in himself, seeming satisfied. 

⋆⋆⋆

Later after they’ve finished eating, Taeyong calls them all over to the living room to talk. Mark and Donghyuck sit on the couch while Taeyong brings over a chair from the kitchen to sit in front of the two. 

“So,” Taeyong begins, eyes flickering between the two. “I need you to run through with me what happened that night.” 

Mark forces himself to breathe out, swallowing the knot threatening to grow in his throat. He had been avoiding thinking about it since he had woken up but Taeyong needed to know. 

“It was the man in the hood,” he tells him, glancing over to look at Donghyuck. Mark finds him looking at him with thinned lips, jaw clenched before he directs his eyes back to Taeyong. “The same one who shot at me with the arrows.” 

“Are you sure?” 

“It was definitely him, I’m sure of it. Appeared out of nowhere just like before.” 

“And you didn’t feel him?” Taeyong questions, referring to his spidey senses. Mark shakes his head and watches as Taeyong’s face pulls together in confusion. “What were you doing for it to not alert you? There’s only a small amount of things that would stop them from working.” 

Mark looks down at his words, avoiding his eyes. 

“I was tired? Had just stopped a robbery and--and I guess it suddenly felt like too much because I had to stop for a moment.” Mark says, closing his eyes trying so hard for his voice to not sound shaky. He swallows hard clenching his eye. “It was fine. Well, I was fine… until I wasn’t anymore. That’s when he showed up.” He whispers the rest, afraid of how he would sound if he spoke louder. 

Silence follows his words but Mark doesn’t move. Doesn’t open his eyes to look at either one of them doesn’t want to see their disappointment in him. Disappointed that a so-called hero could reduce himself to that state, to the vulnerability Mark had. 

A hand drops onto his knee and Mark flinches at the feeling but they just give him a slight squeeze in return. 

“Mark? It’s fine, I get it. You don’t have to tell me anymore just tell me what happened after.” 

Mark breathes in slowly and counts to three before breathing out. He repeats this a couple of times before continuing. 

“It was like-like he was holding me down only he wasn’t. I couldn’t move at all. Then there was a buzz in the air and he seemed to be in a hurry to leave after it. Before leaving he squeezed his hand and I don’t remember anything after that.” 

There’s a slight pause as everyone processes what Mark just said before they all begin speaking at once. 

“Did he touch you at all to create the burns?” 

“A buzz? Like a feeling or did you hear something buzz?” 

Mark opens his eyes to look at Taeyong. He’s leaning forward in his chair, his hand on Mark’s knee. Doyoung stands behind him, eyes on him. 

“He didn’t touch me at all. He didn’t even come close to me.” He tells Doyoung and his eyes flicker to Taeyong. “The buzz was a noise at least I think it was.” 

“So you’re saying he burned you without even making contact with your skin? That he was able to fracture two of your ribs by holding his hand out?” Doyoung asks incredulously, his voice rising slightly and Mark nods. 

“Did he say anything to you? Mention what he wanted? Why he attacked you?” 

Mark hesitates to answer and Taeyong notices, sitting up straighter in his seat. He doesn’t say anything but Mark can see him prompting him to continue with the way Taeyong stares at him. He doesn’t bother glancing over at Donghyuck knowing that if he did, he'd be unable to tell them. 

“H-He didn’t want me...at least not this time,” Mark begins and Taeyong’s eyebrows raise. “Didn’t want you in what way? He didn’t want to kill you?” 

Mark shakes his head slowly, “He wasn’t looking for me. He was looking for Donghyuck.” he lets out slowly. Donghyuck is sitting close enough to Mark to feel him stiffen beside him. Mark wills himself to not look over at Donghyuck instead keeping his gaze directly on Taeyong. His expression has shifted once again, his eyes cast downwards to his feet, biting down on his lower lip. 

“Me?” Donghyuck finally whispers after some time. Mark juts his chin down in response and he can feel Donghyuck shift next to him. 

“He wanted me.” He says so low that Mark believes he’s saying it to himself more than towards any of them. “He wanted me.” He repeats louder this time and Mark watches as Taeyong and Doyoung turn their attention to Donghyuck. 

“You got hurt because of me.” 

Mark’s head whips over to him so fast that it gives him backlash. Donghyuck’s staring at him, eyes sweeping over his face as if he were staring at a stranger. “It wasn’t your fault,” Mark whispers meekly and it seems to break whatever Donghyuck was in because his eyes meet Mark’s before he pushes himself back abruptly, putting some space between them. 

“Don’t you get it? You got hurt because of me! He was looking for me and found you instead.” He shouts and Mark winces at the volume but Donghyuck ignores it. 

"If he had found me instead you wouldn't be hurt. That should've been me, not you!" He spits out and Mark's eyes start watering much to his annoyment. He watches him through blurry eyes struggling to find out what to say. 

"Donghyuck, that's enough," Taeyong warns, trying to touch him but before his hand can reach him Donghyuck stands up moving out of his reach.

"It's the same shit everywhere I go, anyone who gets near me gets hurt. I told you! I told you this wouldn't be a good idea, that he'd end up getting hurt but you didn't listen to me. No one ever listens to me! And now Mark is praying the price!" He shouts and Mark can see tears rolling down his cheeks. 

"Donghyuck listen to me, it wasn't your fault. I was the one who didn't tell him, that's why he got mad." Mark tries again but Donghyuck is shaking his head before he can even finish. 

"It is! It's my fault! It shou-" Doyoung cuts him off with a deep, loud growl. When Mark looks over he sees Doyoung growing in size, his neck veins bulging, skin growing slightly green. 

"Donghyuck. That's enough, sit down before I make you." He growls and Mark watches as Donghyuck glares at Doyoung and it's only when Taeyong sighs quietly that Donghyuck sits down again, crossing his arms against his chest. 

"Thank you," Doyoung says, voice back to normal and sure enough when Mark glances over he's returned to his normal self. 

"Neither of you is to blame for this," Taeyong begins and Donghyuck huffs beside Mark. "The only one to blame is Min." 

"Min?" Mark and Donghyuck both ask at the same time, all attention on Taeyong. 

He nods and reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket, pulling out a small blue pouch. Wordlessly he opens it and shows them a small device that resembles a hard drive. "This is what was placed onto Mark." 

"It wasn't a tracking device like I thought it would be. Looking into it all it does is repeat a single word over and over again," he explains turning over the device. 

"Min." Donghyuck guesses and Taeyong nods, confirming it. 

"I did everything I could think of to look into the mechanics of whatever this is but it was just repeating Min regardless of what I tried. Once I made sure it wasn't trackable I came over here but I'll continue trying, might ask Tae to look into it." 

"Tae?" Doyoung asks, confused. 

"Yes, Tae from S.H.I.N.E? You've met him before, he's one of the few business partners I have." 

"The one from the dinner? The blonde with the piercing eyes?" 

"Yes, him. He might have an idea of where they could have gotten this from or where they could've purchased the parts to assemble it." Taeyong tells him. 

They both turned to look at them, glancing between the two before giving each other a look. 

"I think the two of you need to talk." Taeyong stands up from his chair. 

"What?" Mark asks, and even he can hear the panic in his voice. 

"You need to resolve whatever is going on between the two of you," Doyoung explains and Mark is about to protest when Donghyuck speaks. 

"He's right, you know?" he says and Mark freezes. He can't exactly deny the fact they need to talk but he wasn't expecting it to be this exact moment. Taeyong takes the silence as his cue to leave, picking up his chair and walking away. 

"That being said you better watch your tone, don't tell at him or else I'll have no choice but to let you have a talk with the other guy," Doyoung warns and whatever Donghyuck does seems to satisfy him because he nods and turns to look at Mark. 

"We'll be on the bottom floor if you need us, okay? Try not to push yourself too much, you're not completely healed." He tells him before walking to the elevator where Taeyong is waiting for him, leaving the two of them alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys!!! I'm sorry for such a late update but I hope the wait was worth it :( Taking my time really actually helped with my writing process and I also had time to sit down and plan so many scenes so that's something to look forward to. I also want to thank you all for taking the time to read this, it really means a lot. If you'd like, leave me a comment down below with your thoughts or you can leave me a cc. My twitter is @markminho if you'd like to stay updated See you guys next time,, thank you once again <3


	12. cherry tomato

The room falls into silence as Mark and Donghyuck watch the elevator doors close. It's so quiet Mark is aware of each breath he takes along with Donghyuck's. They don't say anything for a while and Mark wishes he could make a run for it. 

It's Donghyuck who finally breaks the silence, when Mark was beginning to feel like he'd lose his mind, already having cursed Doyoung and Taeyong until he grew tired of it. He whispers Mark's name so quietly that Mark almost believes he's imagined it until Donghyuck repeats himself a bit louder. 

"Mark." 

Mark stills but otherwise doesn't give any reaction. Donghyuck sighs and Mark feels him shift, moving closer to him. 

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't mean to yell at you. I-I was just overwhelmed and took it out on you without realizing it." There's a pause and Mark holds his breath waiting for him to continue. "I know we haven't been the best at talking to each other since basically-- ever I guess but I'm really trying right now so… could you just please look at me? So I know you're listening?" 

Mark breathes out slowly through his mouth, counting down from ten before he does. He doesn't meet Donghyuck's eyes opting to look above them, at the hair covering his forehead. 

"I know you said we aren't friends but I can't just let you get hurt, especially when it's my fault." He says and Mark's eyebrows furrow as he listens to him. "It hurts seeing you like this knowing it was meant for me " 

"So what? Am I supposed to just sit here and watch you get hurt?" Mark asks incredulously, finally meeting Donghyuck's eyes. They're wide, staring back at him. "Because that's pretty hypocritical, don't you think?" 

"It's not the-" Donghyuck begins but Mark cuts him off before he can even finish. "The same? Yeah, let me guess it's because you can take hits and I can't?" Mark's hands are trembling slightly, his frustration and anger- bubbling within him. 

Donghyuck falters and it's enough of an answer for Mark. "Of course you would think that. Well, newsflash! I'm not made of glass, I can take a beating just as well as anyone else can. For God's sake, I'm a hero, Donghyuck. That enough should show you I'm capable of getting hurt and still living." Mark scoffs and Donghyuck lets out a small noise that sounds like a protest. "I've been through worse things and I've survived. I'm still standing here and that's worth something, don't you think? So you can stop coddling me and start taking care of yourself." 

"I didn't say you couldn't take a hit," Donghyuck whispers but Mark shakes his head. "No, but you implied it and that's enough. You need to realize that you're not the only one who's capable of getting hurt." 

"I just-why would someone else have to get hurt when I can just do it?" He questions and Mark feels like slapping him, maybe that'd bring some sense into him. 

"Why would you even ask that?" 

"Ask what? It's the truth. If I can save someone from pain then I will do it, especially for someone I care about." 

"Donghyuck please listen to yourself for a moment. Do you even understand what you're saying?" Mark questions, voice raising slightly making Donghyuck frown. 

"You have to put yourself first sometimes, even as a hero. You can't just stop caring about yourself and throw away your life."

"I'm not throwing anything away. Dying doesn't matter to me, Mark not when nothing can really kill me." 

"This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Mark says, throwing his hands up. "It's your disregard to your own self that makes you think it's okay to believe that when it's not." 

"But it is. I've died so many times now that I'm not scared to anymore." 

"How can you even say that?" Mark's voice sounds high to his ears, close to breaking. 

"It's the truth, Mark. Dying to me now is nothing. It's like a walk in the park, I could care less about it happening." 

Mark stares at him, trying to figure out how he could get through to him. No matter what Mark said, Donghyuck just waved it off and Mark was getting tired of the same cycle. It was repetitive: Mark would tell Donghyuck to think about himself more often and Donghyuck would just continue doing what he was doing. 

"Don't you get it, Donghyuck? I care about you! I can't just keep watching you practically kill yourself every time you're Deadpool." 

Donghyuck’s mouth falls open slightly, eyes trailing over Mark’s face. There’s a slight pause as the two of them stare at each other, saying nothing. Then Donghyuck’s mouth thins into a line and he arranges himself so his body is facing Mark. 

“There are so many things you don’t understand, Mark. Things you don’t know and it’s not your fault, I don’t blame you. But because you don’t know, you feel this way over me and I need you to understand that you don’t have to. I’ll be fine, no matter what happens.” 

“Make me understand then! Tell me what happened for you to be like this!” Mark raises his hand in exasperation, letting them fall onto his lap after a beat. 

Donghyuck shakes his head, his jaw clenched. “I can’t tell you right now, Mark.” 

“That’s fine. You can’t tell me right now and it’s fine. Just don’t expect me to be okay with it because I won’t be and I probably never will be regardless of whether or not I know the full story.” 

“You say that now but you’ll think differently once you know,” Donghyuck says quietly and he looks down at his lap. “We’ll probably never see eye to eye regarding this, huh?” 

“No, we probably never will as long as you have this mindset. Your life is worth so much. You’re worth so much, Donghyuck. Seeing you throw it away so casually is what I don’t agree with.” Donghyuck scoffs but Mark ignores it, swallowing hard. “One day you’ll realize it, I’ll make sure of it no matter if it’s the last thing I do.” 

Donghyuck’s lips part open, staring at Mark in a way that confuses him. He seems to be looking at him as if he were a stranger like he had just met him. “You’re serious?” He finally whispers and Mark nods. 

“Completely. Aren’t you tired of this, Donghyuck? Since we met there have been countless arguments that lead us further and further from each other. Taeyong sent you to me thinking we could get along and maybe I’d talk some sense into you but the complete opposite has happened.” Donghyuck’s face twists at the mention of Taeyong but just as quickly as it had come, it was gone. Almost making Mark believe he had imagined it. “We argue and run away from each other when we should really be talking things out. It’s not healthy, don’t you think?” 

“You’re right,” Donghyuck agrees, “it isn’t healthy at all.” 

“So let’s talk things out from now on, okay? If we have a problem with something the other does instead of avoiding the situation we sit down and resolve it.” 

“Sounds good.” 

⋆⋆⋆

“You know you don’t really have to help me, right? I can walk just fine alone.” Mark huffs as Donghyuck’s arm tightens around him. 

“So Doyoung can chew my ass out later for letting you hurt yourself again? No thanks, besides if you hadn’t created such a fuss, you know I’d have carried you over here instead of just supporting you.” 

“Why are all of you acting as if I was on the brink of death?” Mark groans just as the elevator doors open. Mark’s words resonate throughout the spacious room and Donghyuck besides him, laughs. 

“For all, we know you practically were. After all, you were attacked by Min.” Taeyong’s voice calls out and Mark rolls his eyes. 

“I’m fine, you guys are just over exaggerating.” 

“God forbid we worry over you,” Donghyuck mutters and Mark elbows him before pushing himself away from his grasp. He walks over to where Taeyong and Doyoung are to the best of his ability with Donghyuck trailing closely behind him. 

They’re both sitting in front of a long desk with multiple monitors on them. Doyoung typing away on the lit-up desktop while Taeyong spins a hologram around and around with a single hand. 

"What is that?" Donghyuck asks, leaning over Mark's shoulder to get a better look. Mark sighs quietly trying to shift to give Donghyuck a better view but Donghyuck's hands grip his upper arms, stopping him from moving. 

"It's a hologram,” Doyoung says and Donghyuck clicks his teeth, the noise loud to Mark’s ears. “I know that but what exactly is it?” Mark might not be able to see much of Donghyuck’s face but he knows he rolled his eyes as he said that. 

“It’s the device you found on Mark’s suit,” Taeyong explains, hand stilling. He uses his pointer finger and thumb to enlarge the hologram making it easier for both Mark and Donghyuck to see. 

It resembles a hard drive for the most part, but as Taeyong turns it around Mark can make out a sort of button. Taeyong presses on it and it begins to glow before it shoots up a light where “MIN” is repeated over and over again. 

“Min?” Mark mumbles wracking his mind for anyone who could be a suspect but coming up blank. 

“For now, it’s pretty safe to assume that MIN wants to be known,” Taeyong says pressing the button once again to make it stop. “That being said, it could be their real name or be an acronym for something. All we know for certain is that they’re after Donghyuck and as long as you two are together, you’re a target as well Mark.” 

“Which means you’ll be staying here for a while.” Doyoung finishes, still typing away. It takes a moment for his words to sink in but when they finally do Mark feels himself go stiff. 

“What do you mean by here?” He questions, his voice flat of emotion as he tries not to freak out. 

“The safe house is where you both will be staying until we get the situation under control.” Taeyong turns, meeting Mark’s eyes. 

“So you mean we’re staying here until MIN is dead?” Donghyuck asks and Taeyong shakes his head. “I said until the situation is under control, Donghyuck.” 

“So until he’s dead.” 

“Pretty much,” Doyoung confirms, Donghyuck laughs his whole body shaking around Mark’s back. 

“I can’t stay here. I have midterms coming up.” Mark says and Donghyuck stops laughing, the room going silent. “You’ll be excused from those as soon as I call them tomorrow morning. You don’t have to worry about that.” 

“But I don’t want that. I want to be able to go back home and go to my classes.” 

“And you will but until I know you’re absolutely safe you’re staying here.” 

“Taeyong you can’t really expect me to stay here until you find this Min person. It could take days, weeks, maybe months!” 

“He has a point, you know,” Doyoung mutters and Taeyong sighs, pushing his hair back from his face. 

“He does,” Taeyong agrees, “but you know we can’t just let them go back.” He turns so he’s facing Doyoung. 

“No, but we could find them somewhere else to live,” Doyoung suggests. “And if you don’t feel like spending that much money then I could do it.” He shrugs. 

“You know I could care less about the money. I just don’t want them to be alone while we don’t know anything about Min.” 

“As if that doesn’t happen already with the whole ‘superhero’ thing.” Donghyuck points out and Doyoung nods. 

“As long as they’re superheroes they’ll always have a target on them, besides they’re adults which means we can’t coddle them forever. Mark needs to go to his classes in order to pass his midterms and Donghyuck still needs to accept our deal to be a member of the Avengers. None of that will happen if they’re stuck here.” 

“Mark is still injured.” Taeyong replies and Doyoung rolls his eyes. “His body is healing itself as we speak. He’ll be fine by Monday morning which means we have this weekend to find a house and furnish it.” 

Taeyong stares at Doyoung but he just raises his eyebrows at him, waiting for his agreement. 

“If it makes you feel any better isn’t Jungwoo supposed to come back from his vacation in a week or two? He’ll stick close to them while we search for Min.” 

Taeyong sighs and by the smile that spreads across Doyoung’s face it looks like Taeyong has agreed. 

“Ten?” Taeyong calls out and a low hum fills Mark’s ears. “I need you to look at available houses near Mark’s college.” 

“On it, sir.” A soft, high-pitched voice resonates throughout the room making Donghyuck jump, hands wrapping around Mark tighter. “What the fuck was that?” 

“That’s Ten,” Mark tells him and Doyoung looks like he’s holding himself back from laughing at Donghyuck. 

“Would you be more interested in a one-story or two-story?” Ten asks and Taeyong turns to look at him. 

“Which would you prefer, Mark?” 

“I-I don’t really care.” Mark stutters and Donghyuck huffs. “Make it one story, it is only the two of us,” Donghyuck says and Taeyong nods. 

“You heard him, Ten. Also make sure the house is secluded and private, priority on any with extra land or on a mountainside.” 

“I’m not stupid, Lee.” 

“Of course you aren’t. I did create you after all.” 

“And you will never let me forget that.” 

⋆⋆⋆

"Do you think it'd be possible to change the color of his suit?" Mark asks sounding a little more excited than he had hoped. He hears Donghyuck scoff beside him as Taeyong chuckles. 

"That would be possible... but it really comes down to Donghyuck." Taeyong replies and Mark frowns at his words. Donghyuck sticks his tongue out at him and Mark rolls his eyes. 

"I just don't get why both our suits have to be red," 

"If you ask me, it's cute. It's like a couple's outfit." Ten's voice sounds throughout the room and everything goes silent until Taeyong snorts, breaking the moment. 

"Couple's outfit?!" 

"Oh my god, Ten. You might be onto something." Donghyuck leans over, putting his head on Mark's shoulder. Instead of pushing him away Mark just sighs and Donghyuck smiles, snuggling closer to him. 

"As I was trying to say, since I'm working on new suits if you have any requests, please let me know." 

"Do you have any other material for the suits? Something that wouldn't get ruined after every wear?" Donghyuck asks and Taeyong swivels around in his chair to face them. 

"Or maybe add an addition of Ten into my suit? It'd be nice to have another friend." 

"As much as I would like that, I already have enough with Taeyong," 

"No. That's actually a good idea, I could create an extension of Ten for each of you and include them in the new suits." Taeyong says, he turns back around and begins to type away. 

“I thought Ten was one of a kind?” 

“I am,” Ten responds and Mark can swear he hears the pride in his words. 

“Ten is extremely special and creating something like him would require me to work on it for a while. What I’m going to do is take bits from Ten’s coding and use it to create extensions.” Taeyong explains and Mark finds himself nodding. “Will they be as colorful as Ten?” 

“I don’t think anyone can be worse than Ten,” Mark responds for Taeyong and they all hear Ten scoff. 

“Taeyong wouldn’t be the man he is today if he didn’t have me. I’m the one stuck listening to his endless rants about you two and about the rest of the Avengers.” 

“Ten,” Taeyong warns but Ten continues on, “Oh Ten! Mark just keeps putting himself in danger and he won’t listen to me! Jaehyun ye-” 

“That’s enough,” Taeyong swipes his hand across the desk and Ten goes silent. 

“Woah! Did you kill him?” Donghyuck asks sitting up and Mark hears Taeyong sigh. “No, I did not kill Ten, Donghyuck. I just sent him off, think of it as sleeping.” 

“That’s so cool, I didn’t know Ten would be able to sleep.” 

“Well, he’s not really sle- actually… nevermind. Doyoung should be back soon, the two of you should go upstairs and wait for him. I’ll work on suit prototypes in the meantime and I’ll go get you whenever I finish.” 

“Thank you, Mr. Lee. Don’t overwork yourself,” Mark says as he stands up, pulling Donghyuck up with him. Donghyuck immediately steps closer and wraps an arm around Mark. 

“Taeyong, Mark. You don’t have to call me Mr. Lee and don’t worry about me, you’re the one who’s hurt.” 

“Sorry,” 

“Okay enough of that, we’re going now, Taeyong. See you later,” Donghyuck begins walking toward the elevator with Mark by his side. 

⋆⋆⋆

“How did I even agree to this?” Mark groans looking up from his lap to look at Donghyuck through the mirror. Donghyuck meets his eyes, shooting him a smile as he continues to apply the bleach onto his hair. “Because we were both bored and I asked nicely?” Donghyuck reminds him and it was true. 

The two of them had been sitting on the couch when Donghyuck randomly said he wanted to dye his hair. Mark had looked at him and shrugged, unsure of what else he should say and then Donghyuck had clapped his hands together loudly announcing that Mark should as well. He had been ready to reject him when he saw how happy he looked at the idea, Mark just couldn’t bring himself to say no, which is why he was now getting his hair bleached. 

“Besides, If it looks bad or you don’t like it, I had Doyoung bring me black hair dye as a backup so stop worrying.” 

“What color are you even doing?” 

Donghyuck hums, “I’m not sure yet. It’s between orange and silver, what do you think I should do?” 

“Silver would look cool I think.” 

“Cool as in…” He trails off and Mark shrugs. “I dunno...I just think the silver would complement your skin tone. It’d look nice.” 

“That’s cute,” Donghyuck says smiling at him once again and Mark feels his face grow hot. “I’ll do the silver just for you.” 

Mark’s phone vibrates against his thigh and he’s grateful for the distraction. Looking down at the screen he sees it’s an incoming call from Minho, he tenses unsure of whether or not he should answer. 

“Do you want me to give you some privacy?” 

“No it’s just Minho, you can stay,” He tells him before answering the call and bringing the phone to his ear. 

“Mark,” Minho’s voice fills Mark’s ears and Mark grins. 

“Minho! Hey, what’s up?” 

“Nothing much, I was just wondering when you wanted to meet up? So I could return your notes to you?” 

Fuck. He had completely forgotten about that. 

“I actually won’t be able to meet up as planned? I’m sick and stuck in bed…” Mark trails off, not trusting himself to continue the lie without sounding suspicious. He watches as Donghyuck rolls his eyes at his words and Mark wishes he could smack him. 

“Oh no, I hope it’s nothing too serious. You were already looking pretty bad the last time I saw you, your lack of sleep probably didn’t help. Have you taken any medicine? Ate anything?” Mark winces as he hears Minho’s concerned words. 

“You’re right the lack of sleep definitely did not help but don’t worry, I’m getting better. And yes I have, my uhhh roommate has been taking care of me.” Minho hums through the line. 

“That’s nice of him to do. If you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to call me Mark.” 

“Thank you Minho, I really appreciate it.” 

“Anytime, Mark. Hope you feel better.” And with that Minho ends the call and Mark slumps back into his chair, closing his eyes and groaning. “Could you stop moving?” Donghyuck complains pulling on a strand of Mark’s hair but Mark just groans in response. 

“Stop being so overdramatic, you’ll literally see him next week.” 

“It’s not that...I-I guess I just feel bad for having to lie to him.” 

Donghyuck goes silent and Mark waits for him to say something but after several moments Mark opens his eyes, immediately searching for Donghyuck through the mirror. Mark finds Donghyuck already staring at him, a weird look in his eyes. 

“What?” Mark whispers and it breaks whatever Donghyuck was just experiencing because he clears his throat, looking away and continuing to apply the bleach to his hair. 

“You’re too nice for your own good, Mark.” He tells him as Mark continues to watch him. “It makes me wonder how you’re even a hero.” Donghyuck applies the last of the bleach into his hair and continues, “Not because you’re not capable of it or anything like that. I know you’re strong and love to help others but you’re just so nice? It’s bound to come back to bite you in the ass one day.” 

Mark makes a sort of weird noise in the back of his throat, trying to think of what one would even respond to that. Donghyuck doesn’t give him a chance though because before Mark even comes up with something he steps back and meets Mark’s gaze once again. 

“All done!” He announces, pulling off his gloves and throwing them away. 

“That’s it?” Mark asks confused, leaning closer to the mirror to get a better view of his hair. Donghyuck behinds him laughs, “Of course not, we have to wait a bit to see if all of your hair was bleached otherwise we’ll have to do it again.” 

“Again?!” Mark exclaims and Donghyuck nods. 

“Yeah, anyways what do you wanna do in the meantime?” 

⋆⋆⋆

“I just don’t understand why we have to watch anime! I didn’t even know you liked anime like what the fuck.” Donghyuck crosses his arms across his chest as Mark does his best to ignore him, looking through the different animes on the screen. “I knew you were too perfect to be true.” 

“Shut up, okay? I let you fucking dye my hair and kill it in the process and did you hear me complain at all? No. So just sit there and watch this for me, alright?” Mark glances over at Donghyuck and sees him pout. 

“You’re such a bitch, I made you hotter and this is what you repay me with? Blackmail?” 

Mark rolls his eyes, “I don’t think making me resemble a tomato is making me look hotter.” 

“You’re a cherry! Not a tomato and you definitely look better now so you’re welcome.” 

“Okay, whatever. I’m pressing play now.” Mark says, finally leaning back into bed. Donghyuck huffs beside him but otherwise doesn’t say anything else, only shifting closer to Mark so he can rest his head on his shoulder. 

“Why are you being so clingy?” Mark mumbles, looking down at Donghyuck’s silver hair. 

“ ‘m not being clingy,” he protests and Mark resists the urge to laugh.

“Okay, whatever you say Donghyuck,” Mark whispers turning back to look at the TV as the intro for My Hero Academia begins to play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys, sorta quick chapter for you all. I want to start off by saying thank you guys so so so much for all the support on the last chapter? Everyone is just so nice to me and it means a lot to me that people are actually reading my little story. I love you all <3 I also want to apologize for the wait and just how messy? the chapter is but I really wanted to give y'all something before my finals so I hope you understand. That being said, I probably won't get another chapter up until my finals are over and I'm on winter break ( December 20th) BUT I promise I'll feed you properly once I am. Please tell me what you thought about the chapter down below or send me some CCs. Also YES I did make Mark a weeb and have red hair because why not!!!
> 
> If you want updates on the fic (or me lol) you can follow my twitter @markminho :D 
> 
> mark-spiderman  
> donghyuck-deadpool  
> taeyong-ironman  
> jungwoo-happy  
> doyoung-hulk  
> ten-jarvis


	13. new beginnings

“Donghyuck,” Mark huffs as he tries to disentangle himself from the boy wrapped around him. It’s really no use because Donghyuck just tightens his hold and continues walking, ignoring Mark’s complaints. “I don’t need help walking anymore, I can do it myself.” 

“Shut up, we’re almost there anyway,” Donghyuck says and sure enough the doorstep is only a few steps away. 

“If I were you, I’d just go along with it,” Jungwoo calls out from behind him and Mark hears Taeyong agree. 

“Easy to say when it’s not you,” Mark mumbles and Donghyuck scoffs. 

“You’re making such a big deal about this, Lee?” Donghyuck stops walking and Mark turns to face him. Donghyuck’s skin is shining under the bright sun, hair slightly tousled some pieces sticking onto his forehead damp with sweat, but all Mark can see is the way Donghyuck is looking at him--like he knew a secret Mark didn’t know yet. 

“Makes me wonder if you have some secret crush on me?” He tilts his head to the side slightly, a small smile playing at his lips. 

Mark feels the way his face grows hot and he wishes he could blame it on the sun but that’d be such a shit lie--even for him. 

“Me? Have a crush on you?” He laughs and Donghyuck’s smile just grows at Mark’s words, eyes shining. “Keep dreaming.” 

“Oh, I will.” 

“Okay, if the two of you are done flirting now could you please keep walking? Taeyong already opened the door.” Doyoung calls out, startling Mark so much he jumps slightly. He looks away from Donghyuck and over to Doyoung who’s standing at the now open door. He raises his eyebrows at Mark before turning around and walking in. 

Mark attempts to push away from Donghyuck but Donghyuck is quicker and soon Mark is letting himself be pulled into their new house. To no one’s surprise, the house was larger than Mark and Donghyuck has asked for. It was much more secluded than the previous, on a mountainside with a view, and it was even gated. 

“Surprised you went for this,” Doyoung says looking around the living room. “You usually prefer traditional homes compared to modern.” 

“Taeyong thought it’d be a better fit for the boys,” Jungwoo explains as he plops down on the black couch. 

“And I assume all the windows will be replaced with bulletproof glass?” 

“It’s already been done. Taeyong had me working like crazy for the last two days,” Jungwoo sighs, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. 

“I couldn’t exactly let them live here without taking the proper precautions first.” Taeyong walks in and motions for them to come into the living room. They make their way over and soon they’re all sitting in the living room. 

“The house is pretty much fully furnished although I did ask Jungwoo to leave some rooms empty. That being said the house is yours so feel free to buy anything that’ll make it feel more like home.” Taeyong turns to look at Mark as he says this. “I’m sorry you had to leave the other after close to a year of living in it but I hope you can make this your home as well.” 

Mark nods and Taeyong reaches into his jacket pocket, pulling out multiple pairs of keys before he places them on the coffee table before them. 

“These are the house keys for both of you as well as for your new cars.” 

“New cars?” Donghyuck exclaims leaning forward and Jungwoo laughs. “Yes, new cars. For both of you.” 

Donghyuck gasps turning so he’s facing Mark. “Did you hear that?” He asks a wide smile on his face again. 

“Pretty hard not to hear when he’s sitting right next to you,” Doyoung points out and Taeyong elbows him. 

“I won’t have to stay home all day anymore,” he tells him and Mark can't help but smile in return. 

“Wait you didn’t go out before because you didn’t have a car?” Taeyong asks frowning, “Why didn’t you tell Jungwoo or me?” 

Donghyuck shrugs smile not faltering. “Didn’t think you’d agree to buy me one, I guess.” 

“Donghyuck if you need something, don't hesitate to ask us or just buy it. I did give you a credit card for a reason.” 

“It’s astonishing how much you spoil these kids, Taeyong,” Doyoung says, shaking his head and Mark laughs. 

“You’re just jealous,” Jungwoo mutters and Doyoung’s face pinches at the accusation. 

“Anyways,” Taeyong cuts in, “on the refrigerator, there’s a list of codes you need to memorize. They’re for the gate, the house keypad, security cameras, and locks. There’s even one for the house lockdown system, make sure you know them all.” 

“Don’t worry I’ll make sure we remember them,” 

“Okay, good. Doyoung and I will go speak with Tae in the next few days to see if we can find anything else about Min.” 

“I talked to Yukhei and he said the rest of the team should be coming by the end of the month," Jungwoo says opening his eyes and straightening up. 

Mark notices the way Taeyong freezes slightly before he relaxes and turns slightly to look at Jungwoo's face. "They should?" He asks, face void of emotion. 

"Yeah, they were supposed to come in by the end of the week but there were some changes in their mission. If they finish sooner then they'll head over here." 

"That's cool! Mark's finals will be over by then," Donghyuck states and the three turn to stare at Mark before speaking all at once.

"In three weeks? Have you even begun to study?" 

"Do you need me to contact your professors?" 

"Good luck, kid." 

Donghyuck coughs loudly which prompts everyone to stop talking and allows Mark to jump in. 

“Thank you, Jungwoo. I have studied some of the material, I will be studying up until finals and no, Taeyong. You don’t need to talk to my professors but I appreciate the thought. Thank you.” 

“Well, if you feel like you’re not prepared enough let me know and I’ll work something out for you.” 

“He’s capable of doing this on his own, right?” Donghyuck asks and Taeyong visibly deflates. 

“It’s not that I don’t think he can’t do this on his own because I know he’s more than capable. I just want him to know I’m here for him.” Taeyong looks over at Mark and meets his eyes as he says this. “You’re extremely bright and I believe in you. ” 

Something builds in Mark’s chest at hearing Taeyong’s words, his body filling with warmth at the reassurement. He struggles to say something, afraid of the knot in his throat giving away how much the statement had really meant to him. Jungwoo, thankfully, speaks giving Mark the chance to compose himself. 

“I’m pretty sure Taeyong would agree to anything Mark asked.” 

Doyoung nods, “He could ask him to go to Asgard and Taeyong would call in Yukhei immediately.” 

Jungwoo sighs, looking annoyed, “Did you forget Asgard doesn’t exist anymore or are you just trying to be funny?” 

“Oh...I forgot Yukhei was homeless.” 

“I’m telling him what you said the next time he calls.” 

“Go ahead, I can take him with my eyes closed.” Doyoung rolls his eyes as Jungwoo sticks his tongue out at him. 

“Enough, you’re both acting like children.” Taeyong cuts in, running a hand through his hair. 

“Would a child have three PHDs? I don’t think so.” 

“Please be quiet.” 

⋆⋆⋆

A knock on Mark’s door startles him making him almost fall off his chair and he realizes he was close to falling asleep. He rubs at his eyes trying to rid himself of the drowsiness he’s feeling when he hears another knock. 

“Mark?” Donghyuck’s muffled voice is heard through the door. 

Mark spins his chair until he’s facing the door and lazily extends his right arm before shooting out a web and pulling open the door. Donghyuck stands there, arm raised as if he were about to knock again, eyes widening slightly as he looks at Mark. 

“What?” Mark asks, shaking his arm so the web breaks. 

“Did you just open the door using a web?” 

“Yes.” Mark spins back around and he faintly hears Donghyuck’s steps as he walks into his room. “Did you need something?” 

“Do you even know what time it is right now?” 

“No, I turned my phone off a while ago so I wouldn’t get distracted.” He explains as he tries to find where he left off on his notes when Donghyuck places his hand on the back of the chair and spins him back around. Mark tilts his head back so he can look at Donghyuck. 

“It’s two in the morning right now,” Donghyuck tells him, “and you haven’t left your room since you came back from your study session with Minho. That was hours ago and you haven’t eaten anything, this isn’t healthy.” 

“I’m studying, Donghyuck. This is normal for me.” 

“You only have one final left that you’ve been studying for days now, you don’t need to study anymore for it.” 

“The final is tomorrow and I need to have everything down. It’s the one class I’ve been struggling with.” 

“And you will study but right now you’re going to go eat whatever I make you and afterward you’re going to sleep.” He’s shaking his head before Donghyuck can finish but Donghyuck just glares down at him before continuing. “You’ll sleep and then you can wake up tomorrow and study some more before actually taking the final.” 

“Donghyuck, I’m not even hungry. I don’t need to eat.” 

“Frankly, I don’t give a shit.” He reaches down and grabs ahold of one of Mark’s hands pulling him up. “You’re eating whether you like it or not. And if you want to do good on your final you need to sleep otherwise you’ll end up falling asleep while you take it.” 

Donghyuck doesn’t wait to hear Mark’s response, he just begins walking with Mark trailing closely behind. Mark knows he could pull his hand away at any moment and go back to studying as he had been but he finds himself not wanting to. Even as they walk down the stairs and make their way to the kitchen Mark is unable to stop Donghyuck. Instead, he ends up seated at the kitchen island watching as Donghyuck waits for the water to boil so he can put in the ramen. 

Maybe it’s because Mark is aware that Donghyuck is right, he doesn’t need to study any more than he already has. He’s been excessive because he’s scared of not actually being able to do it. Of having pushed away Taeyong’s offer only for him to have actually needed it. 

“Okay, tell me what’s wrong, ” Donghyuck says breaking the silence and pulling Mark out of his thoughts. 

“Nothing’s wrong.” 

“You’re thinking too hard, Mark. I can feel it from all the way over here,” 

Mark frowns, wondering if he had accidentally muttered something. Donghyuck glances over at him and he shakes his head, opening the ramen. “You don’t really have to tell me if you don’t want to but I guess what I'm trying to tell you is that I am here for you. We agreed to become friends so as a friend you can tell me whatever is bothering you.” 

Mark sighs quietly knowing Donghyuck is only trying to help and it'd be wrong if he just pushed him away. "It's just..finals really stress me out, nothing major." 

"You're always so stressed about everything, don't really know how you live like that honestly." 

"Ouch." Mark rubs at his chest in feign hurt which makes Donghyuck smile. 

"You're an idiot. It doesn't take much to know that you're super smart. I'm surprised you even have to study but knowing you, you're just studying because you can." 

"I'm not at that level where I could skip studying. It'd make things so much easier if I was though." 

Donghyuck hums, "Yeah but I'm sure you don't have to study as much as you have been. For the past three weeks, you've either been holed up in your room or out with Minho. Even then, you weren't hanging out you were studying." 

"It's better to be safe than sorry." 

"You know, Taeyong told me that you have a 4.0 which is pretty impressive I can't lie," Donghyuck tells him and Mark stills. 

"He did?" 

"Yeah, before I even met you. The months I stayed with him he'd never shut up about you, no offense." 

"None taken," Mark says, feeling his cheeks and ears turn hot. 

"I sort of tuned him out after a while but that's beside the point. What I'm trying to say is that when he first told me I thought he was the reason you had the 4.0. I mean, all he has to do is donate a good amount of money to your school and you'll pass even if you sleep in every class. That's just how it works when you're the Lee Taeyong, you know?" 

And as much as Mark hates to admit it, he does know so he nods even though Donghyuck isn't looking at him. "Yeah, Taeyong does donate money to my school even though I asked him not to." 

"Exactly, so even before I met you I had this image of you in my head. Taeyong spoke very highly of you that made me want to believe you'd be this stuck up piece of shit. Of course, it was almost the complete opposite of what I had expected. It didn't take that long for me to see how dedicated you are to everything." 

"I realized then why Taeyong was always speaking about you. He's so proud of you for everything you do, can't blame him for wanting to let everyone else know you exist. That being said you don't have to be worried about disappointing him or anything because that's pretty much impossible. So if that's why you're so stressed about your finals, know that Taeyong will be proud of you regardless of how you do." 

Mark feels the pressure in his chest lessen as Donghyuck finishes talking and he breathes out for what feels like the first time in weeks. Donghyuck wordlessly turns off the stove and serves himself and Mark some ramen before walking back to where Mark is sitting. He sets the plates down walking back to go grab them drinks before sitting down across from Mark. 

"Eat," he tells him and Mark listens. They eat in silence and before Mark knows it, he's finished. 

"You weren't hungry, huh?" Donghyuck teases and Mark ducks his head down, rubbing at the back of his neck. 

"Thank you," He tells him and Donghyuck tilts his head slightly, shrugging. "Don't mention it." 

"No thank you, not just for the food I mean but for also telling me all of that." Mark looks up meeting Donghyuck's eyes, a smile on his face. 

"Wash the plates and we can call it even?" 

"You're asking for too much," Mark says but still stands up anyways. 

After when Mark's finished washing and putting away the dishes, they make their way back up the stairs. Entering Mark's room, Mark heads over to clean his desk while Donghyuck looks around. 

"It's been three weeks and your room is still so...plain." 

"Haven't exactly had the time to decorate now have I?" 

"Well no but still, this is sad." 

Looking over his shoulder Mark realizes Donghyuck is sprawled out on his bed, looking up at the ceiling. 

After making sure his computer is plugged in and charging, he turns around walking to his bed. "Are you planning on sleeping here or something?" He asks and Donghyuck lifts his head from the mattress to look at Mark. 

"Maybe, your bed is a lot more comfortable than mine. Hate your spoiled ass." 

Mark laughs, sitting himself down on the corner of the bed. 

"Says the one who is also living in this multi-million dollar house without having to pay a cent." 

"Not really, the only reason I'm here is because Taeyong expects me to become an avenger. The moment he realizes it's not happening I'm getting kicked out." He hums and Mark hears a tinge of sadness laced between his words. Before Mark can reply, Donghyuck sighs and scoots himself over so he's only taking up one half of the bed, patting the now empty space. 

"Lay down," He tells him and Mark must make a weird face because Donghyuck laughs. "Don't worry I'm not actually staying here, I'll just wait until you fall asleep and then go to my room." He pats the space again and Mark stands pulling the cover back before slipping in, grateful he'd been wearing sweats already. 

Almost immediately as soon as his body hits the mattress, Mark feels the tiredness rush over him. He blinks quickly trying to fight it. 

"You're so stubborn. Just go to sleep," Donghyuck murmurs and Mark sticks his tongue out at him. 

"Stop being a dumbass before I knock you out and make you go to sleep." 

"Damn, no need to be that aggressive" Mark whispers as he closes his eyes and tries to relax. There's a pause of silence as Mark slips closer and closer to sleep but just before he fully does, he hears Donghyuck say something faintly. He attempts to say something but he's already too far gone, the thought getting lost as falls into unconsciousness. 

⋆⋆⋆

It's a few days later after Mark's last final when Donghyuck forces him to come out of his room to watch movies with him. They grab extra blankets and pillows and settle down on the couch. After some bickering Donghyuck finally lets Mark choose the movie after agreeing they could take turns choosing movies. They’re in the middle of watching Hotarubi no Mori e when Mark feels a shiver go through his body making him freeze. Donghyuck, far too invested in the movie doesn’t notice Mark’s change in demeanor at all. 

“Suits,” Mark whispers and Donghyuck glances over at him before returning his attention back to the screen. 

“What?” 

“Suits, Donghyuck. Where are the suits?” He asks and Donghyuck finally seems to get the hint because he sits up and meets Mark’s gaze. 

“They’re upstairs, why?” 

Mark considers the possibilities of them actually making it up the stairs, putting them on, and coming downstairs when another shiver goes through him. 

“Is something wrong, Mark?” 

Mark stands, letting the blanket drop on the floor and pool around his feet. “Help me put the house on lockdown mode. I don’t know what it is but something’s going to happen.” At Mark’s words, Donghyuck jumps up not questioning him, walking over to one of the built-in panels in the wall. 

As soon as Donghyuck finishes punching in the code, the house lights dim and a humming sound is heard throughout the house. Looking over at the windows Mark realizes that metal shutters are coming down at every window and that’s probably the source of the humming. “Woah, Taeyong wasn’t joking around when it came to house security,” Donghyuck says as he makes his way back over to Mark. Mark nods, wondering what could be causing him to feel like this. 

“Do you want me to go grab our su-” Donghyuck is cut off by a loud banging sound from outside and the two of them turn to each other, eyes wide. 

“We didn’t leave the gate opened, did we?” Mark whispers and Donghyuck shakes his head. 

“Do you think it’s just Taeyong in his suit?” 

“He’d let us know if he was. Especially if he was coming as Iron Man.” 

“Then do you think it’s Min?” 

Mark glances over at the now covered windows, “After close to a month of living here? I doubt it.” 

“Then is it robbers?” 

Mark opens his mouth to answer when a glowing spec appears by the door. Donghyuck follows Mark’s gaze and at seeing the spec, he shifts until he’s standing in front of Mark. Together they watch as the spec grows until it becomes a circle and a hooded figure walks through it. 

“Who the fuck are you?” 

“Sicheng?” 

Donghyuck’s head whips around and he looks at Mark in alarm. “You know him?” 

“Sicheng?” Mark repeats and the person takes another step forward, the circle closing behind him. He reaches up and pulls back the hood covering his face, finally revealing his face. 

“Sorry for barging in but I thought it’d be nice to surprise you,” Sicheng explains, smiling warmly at Mark. 

Mark pushes past Donghyuck walking over to Sicheng, who meets him halfway, before engulfing each other in a hug. 

“Your hair’s different,” Sicheng notes as they pull away and Mark nods. “So is yours, silver suits you.” 

“Thank you,” 

“Wait so you were the loud banging noise outside?” Donghyuck asks. 

“Loud ban-oh.” He mutters before turning around so his back faces them. He raises his right hand slightly in the air and using his index and middle finger he creates another circle before walking in it and disappearing. 

Mark hears Donghyuck whisper, “That is so trippy,” from behind him. 

A moment later another circle appears and out of it steps Sicheng with another person. 

“I forgot Yukhei was still outside.” He explains and Yukhei, behind him frowns. “You didn’t forget, you’re just an asshole.” 

Sicheng shrugs, not denying it. He walks past Mark and over to Donghyuck who he introduces himself, leaving Mark and Yukhei alone. 

“I’m Mark, nice to meet finally meet you.” He says and at Mark’s words, Yukhei does a double-take. 

“You are Mark? Son of lee?” He asks in disbelief and Mark nods. When he doesn’t say anything else Yukhei continues, “For how highly Taeyong speaks of you, I expected you to be a lot taller.” 

Donghyuck and Sicheng burst out laughing while Mark’s face grows hot. Yukhei looks at them confused, tilting his head slightly. “Why are they laughing?” He asks which only makes them laugh harder while Mark stands there feeling oddly humiliated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys !!! The chapter cuts off kind of weird because it was originally longer but I decided to leave the rest of it for the next chapter. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed it! Also, happy new year to all of you! I hope you have a wonderful year. Thank you to everyone who has read this and tagged along with me for this, I appreciate you all so much. 
> 
> That being said from my previous update it was brought to my attention that some of you might not be aware of the main character death tag. I wasn't aware that some readers don't actually read the tags before starting a story so I am sorry if I was not that clear. The death tag is there because someone will die, if that is something you can not handle then I suggest you stop here. I'd love to have you all stick with me but if that is something you don't like then I understand! Again if you choose to not continue reading then I thank you for the time you spent on count my sins <3
> 
> If any of you have any questions or comments, do not hesitate to comment down below or you can ask me on twitter (@markminho). If you'd prefer to stay anonymous then my curious cat can be found underneath my pinned tweet!


	14. days gone wrong

“So where’s Jaehyun?” Mark asks, trying to ignore how warm his whole face feels walking over to the couch. Yukhei follows after him opting to sit down on the empty loveseat, almost immediately grabbing one of the stuffed animals Donghyuck had placed on there. 

“He said he’d meet us here later,” Sicheng answers and Yukhei nods, making the bear nod along with him as well. 

“Is he still...you know? Fighting with Taeyong?” 

“It’s not fighting anymore, more like awkward tension. Highly uncomfortable if you’re in a room with both of them.” 

“Oh, that’s great.” Donghyuck sighs, leaning into Mark’s side. “And it’s safe to assume that you’ll be spending the night here?” 

Sicheng shrugs, when a soft humming sound fills Mark’s ears and in the corner of his eye he sees movement. Wrapping a hand loosely around Donghyuck, he shifts so he can get a better look at it and freezes watching a figure form from thin air. At this point Sicheng has stood up and pulled his hands together, glowing circles centimeters apart from his fingers. 

Mark squints trying to make out the person’s face when it says his name. Almost immediately Donghyuck straightens making Mark’s arm fall down. He scoots back until his body is covering most of Mark’s, a hand clasping Mark’s thigh tightly. 

“Mark?” It repeats and the voice somehow sounds familiar to Mark’s ears, even surrounded by all the static noise. 

“Fucking hell--now!” It shouts flickering before the figure takes better shape. Mark's eyes widen as he takes in the flickering person.

“Taeyong?” Yukhei asks breaking the silence. 

“Yes, fuck.” He breathes out stepping forward, eyes frantically scanning the room. “Mark? Are you okay?” 

“He’s fine,” Donghyuck answers for him as Taeyong walks around. 

“Then why did you put the house on lockdown? Why are you hiding Mark behind you, Donghyuck?” 

“Chill, he’s okay. And we put the house on lockdown because of these two,” he says motioning toward Sicheng and Yukhei. Taeyong’s brows furrow at Donghyuck’s words but he doesn’t bother looking over at them, eyes not leaving Mark. 

“I’m okay, Taeyong. I promise,” he says standing up and immediately Taeyong’s eyes sweep over him making sure he isn't hurt. Once he’s certain Mark is in fact not hurt he nods once, his body visibly relaxing. 

“I thought you guys were coming at the end of the week?” It takes a moment for Mark to process that his words are not directed at him but rather at Sicheng and Yukhei. 

“We finished the mission earlier than expected,” Sicheng explains and Yukhei is nodding along. 

“That’s nice, no injuries?” 

“No, I wouldn’t let that happen.” Yukhei sounds so serious as he says this that Mark is sure he would end up doing everything he could to make sure there were no injuries---sort of like Donghyuck. Maybe the two of them would get along better than he had suspected. 

“Can I ask how you’re here right now?” Donghyuck asks, standing up as well. 

Taeyong sighs, “I’m not really here. It’s just a hologram, I’m currently on a plane right now.” 

“But we can see you?” 

“Before letting Mark and Donghyuck move in I had the house upgraded,” Taeyong explains walking over to the built-in panel. He motions towards the panel before continuing, “I created the lockdown mode along with some other things---such as this. There are tiny projectors all around the house which allows me to be here despite not being here physically.” 

“That’s so cool! We didn’t have any of this back home.” Yukhei exclaims, a wide smile on his face. 

“It’s still developing technology but thank you, Yukhei.” He pauses, eyes looking past any of them as if he was listening to someone else besides them. He nods once and then he’s looking at Sicheng. 

“It’s safe to assume you came over unannounced to surprise Mark, correct?” 

“Yes, that is correct although I can say I did not expect him to be so scared. If I had known then I would have called beforehand. ” Sicheng glances back at Mark and he sees the frown pulling at his lips before Sicheng is facing Taeyong again. “That being said, I am glad I got to see this because now I know we need to get rid of Min sooner rather than later.” 

“Of course, I’ll be back in two days time---sooner if this meeting with Tae goes nicely. When I arrive we’ll have a meeting to discuss everything we know. Until then, Jungwoo is already on his way to the house, when you guys finish catching up with Mark he’ll take you both to the main house where you will be staying at.” 

“They won’t be staying here?” Mark asks, confused. 

“There’s more than enough rooms for them, are you sure?” Donghyuck mirrors Mark’s confusion. 

“I don’t think it’d be a good idea to have three very well known superheroes under the same roof as the two of you when there are all sorts of people out to get them. Although you’d be completely safe I’d rather not test our luck. I can’t put the two of you at risk.” 

“Jungwoo is coming over?” Yukhei asks, the smile on his face having grown larger---if that was even possible. 

“Yes, he should be there any minute now which means I should get going. Doyoung and I need to go over some things before we land.” 

“Good luck, Taeyong,” Mark tells him and in response, Taeyong flashes him a smile. 

“Look after one another,” He says before promptly disappearing. 

They stand there for a moment, looking at the space Taeyong had just been in when Yukhei speaks. 

“Did you hear that? Jungwoo’s coming!” 

“Yes, we are aware. Please try to contain yourself, your crush on him is showing.” Yukhei’s lips twitch as he frowns, staring at Sicheng with a confused look in his eyes. 

“Crush? I do not know what that is. I’m just excited to see him, it’s been months since the last time.” 

Donghyuck pulls at Mark’s hand making him look down, meeting his eyes. “I didn’t know Jungwoo and Yukhei were a thing,” He whispers. 

“They’re not, well at least not yet. Yukhei hasn’t realized he likes Jungwoo quite yet,” Mark explains quietly and Donghyuck’s lips pull in, making an “o” shape as he nods. His hair covers his forehead brushing over his eyes and Mark can’t help but reach out and brush it back. 

A strange choking noise is heard behind Donghyuck making Mark’s hand still as he looks up, searching for the cause. He finds Sicheng staring at him, face filled with mock disgust as he pretends to gag. 

“Can’t believe I’m surrounded with lovesick fools,” He whines and Mark frowns not understanding what he means. 

He’s about to ask for clarification when he hears the front door opens with a screech, Jungwoo rushing in. From then it’s a blur as Yukhei quickly makes his way over to him as Sicheng follows after him, asking to leave. 

⋆⋆⋆

“Did you like it?” Mark asks as soon as they step out of the showing room. The two of them had struggled to find a movie they would both like until Minho had told him to choose something. He blinks as he tries to adjust to the shining lights from all the different movie advertisements blinking throughout the hall. After taking a couple of steps forward Mark realizes that Minho has yet to respond so he glances over his shoulder to find Minho leaning against the wall, eyes closed. 

"Minho?" He asks as he makes his way over to him. “Are you okay?” 

Minho nods, eyes still closed and Mark places his hand tentatively on Minho’s arm, as a form of comfort, but finds that Minho is shaking. 

“Dude you don’t seem fine, do you want me to get you water or something?” Mark whispers. 

Minho opens his mouth to say something but it shuts just as quickly, his face morphing into a grimace as he slides down the wall. Mark doesn’t hesitate to drop down to his knees, pain shooting up his thighs as they hit the tile below him. 

“Minho?” His voice sounds panicked as he wonders if he should call for help or not. Minho doesn’t respond, only lets out as a pant as he curls into himself. 

“I think I’m going to call an ambulance, okay?” he whispers, eyes scanning over Minho’s frame. He looks for any injury that could be causing Minho this much pain but doesn’t see anything. He’s reaching down for his phone in his back pocket when he sees Minho shake his head. 

“N-No,” he mutters and Mark freezes. “No hospital.” Minho bites down on his lip, clenching his eyes as he stretches out. 

“Are you sure? You’re in a lot of pain…” Mark trails off, unsure of whether he should be listening to him. Minho shakes his head again, taking deep breaths as he struggles to calm himself down. After a couple of deep breaths, his face relaxes and he opens his eyes. They focus on something behind Mark’s shoulder before finally meeting Mark’s eyes. They’re blown out and Mark knows it’s a sign of how much pain he is in currently. 

“I’m fine, need to take my meds.” He whispers and Mark sort of wants to smack him for even trying to pass off as fine but he figures he shouldn’t inflict more pain onto him. 

“Okay,” Mark whispers back. “Are they in your car?” 

“Yes.” 

“Let’s get you to your car then.” Minho nods, and Mark quickly runs through his choices of getting Minho to his car. 

“Gonna carry you on my back if that’s okay with you,” Mark says and Minho looks like he’s about to protest when he winces and Mark clicks his teeth. He sits up, reaching down for Minho’s hand so he can help him up. Once Minho is standing, most of his weight against the wall so he doesn’t fall, Mark turns around quickly so Minho can get on his back. 

Once Minho is situated and Mark is sure there is no possibility of dropping him, he begins to walk towards the exit. Minho’s stiff against his back, head tucked into his left shoulder breath fanning over his neck. Before he makes it, Mark is stopped by a worried-looking employee. 

“Is everything alright?” She asks wide eyes focused on Minho. 

“Uhh yeah, he isn’t feeling that good.” Mark quickly explains and she sucks in a breath. 

“Should I call someone?” She asks and before Mark can respond Minho beats him to it, shaking his head. 

“I should be fine after taking my meds, thank you for your concern.” He tells her, lifting his head to look at her momentarily. 

The employee nods, looking over at Mark. “If he feels worse please make sure to take him to the hospital. Also, be careful, there’s been a report of an attack not far from here.” She says before hurrying them along. Mark manages to mutter off a yes before he’s off. It doesn’t take them very long to reach their cars, setting Minho down against his. 

“Keys.” He prompts and Minho proceeds to pull them out of his jacket pocket. Mark hurries to open the car, before helping Minho inside. Minho reaches over to his glove compartment, opening it up and pulling out multiple bottles of pills. After getting a couple, he doesn’t even bother with water swallowing them dry. 

He sighs and leans back into his seat, his eyes trained up. 

“I’m sorry,” Minho whispers after a couple of seconds and Mark’s face twists in confusion. 

“Sorry?” He asks and Minho nods once. 

“What are you sorry for?” Mark questions, completely lost on what Minho could be talking about. 

“For ruining our hang out.” Minho’s voice is raw as if he was ready to cry at any moment now. “I should’ve taken my meds beforehand, but I felt...fine.” 

“No, no,” Mark says stepping a bit closer toward the open door. Toward Minho. “Don’t apologize for that. “I’m sorry for not noticing your pain sooner.” 

“You’re fine, I didn’t even feel that bad until towards the end of the movie.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Would you have told me if it had started before then?” Mark asks and Minho nods. “Yes, but only because I wouldn’t have lasted that long." 

"That's not fair, now I'll worry you're in pain whenever I'm around you." Minho frowns at his words. 

"This is why I didn't want you to know. I don't like worrying people, especially over this." He sighs, running a hand through his hair. 

"I don't want you focusing on me when we're together just because I'm sick." 

"Hey, I was only joking. I know if you were really in pain you'd let me know," Mark whispers and Minho breathes out loudly, sounding relieved. 

"And besides you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to. Don’t feel like you’re obligated to just because of what happened today.” 

“Thank you so much, Mark.” And Minho sounds so genuine when he whispers this to Mark that a shiver runs through him. He can’t imagine what Minho has experienced for him to be this grateful for Mark not forcing him to confess what was wrong. 

Minho looks like he’s about to say something else when his phone begins to ring. He glances at the screen before answering, his brows furring at the name on the screen. 

“Hello?” He speaks into the phone and Mark decides to give him some privacy, walking over to his car. He grabs his phone, trying to busy himself while Minho talks on the phone. Only when he clicks his phone to life his whole body goes cold. There are multiple missed calls from Donghyuck. 

He unlocks it, immediately calling Donghyuck back. He waits, listening to the ringing only for it to go straight to voicemail. Cursing to himself, Mark calls again hoping that Donghyuck had only gotten lonely at home and wished for Mark to come back home. But when he gets voicemail again he knows that is not the case at all. 

Mark needs to get home, like right now. 

“Hey, Mark?” Minho’s voice calls out, pulling Mark out of his thoughts. Mark looks up from his phone, meeting Minho’s eyes through the now open window. 

“Um, my brother called? He said there’s some sort of accident pretty close to here and he wants me home. He’s sent his driver, he should be here any moment now.” He explains but Mark stopped listening after the word accident. 

“Accident?” He repeats almost dazed and Minho nods. 

“Not too sure what it is but he sounded pretty worried.” Minho shrugs. “He mentioned a fire so maybe that’s why he’s worried.” 

“Sorry, Minho but you said the driver should be here any minute now, right?" 

Minho nods, "Yeah can't be longer than five minutes." 

"Are you feeling better? I hate to do this but I really need to get home. My roommate is home alone and he gets really anxious." 

"Oh. Definitely feel better, don't feel bad. I'm fine now, and Jay will be here soon. Please go make sure your roommate is safe and fine." 

"Can you text me when he gets here and when you get home? That way I won't feel as bad for leaving u like this?" Mark asks and Minho is nodding before he even finishes. 

"Of course, now go. I can see how worried you are, nothing will happen to me." 

"Again, I'm really sorry. I'll make it up to you the next time we hang out." 

"If you don't leave in the next moment, Mark. I swear to God." 

"Okay, Okay," Mark mutters as he pulls open his door. "Be safe," He tells Minho before slamming the door closed and starting up the car. He doesn't hesitate to pull out and drive out of the parking lot, only waiting until he's on the street to step down on the gas. 

Mark knows Donghyuck won't be home when. he gets there but he doesn't have his suit with him. Having left it there as he saw no need for him to have it when he was only going to spend the afternoon with Minho. It doesn't take long for Mark to get to the house, rushing to open the gate and park his car before he's running inside. He's half out of his clothes by the time he reaches the top of the stairs, cursing himself for always having his phone on do not disturb. A quick look into Donghyuck’s room confirms he is not home, and his suit is missing from his closet. 

Once he's pulled on his suit, he runs down the stairs grabbing his phone quickly looking up recent news articles. Sure enough a few pop up, all having to do with some building where people were taken hostage. He clicks on a live stream of a news channel, watching as the reporter talks for a few seconds before the camera pans to a building behind them. There's already police tape surrounding it, with two policemen guarding the front entrance. It seems relatively calm but the reporter seems very panicked. It shows the building again and Mark recognizes its location. He tosses his phone onto the couch and he’s out the door. 

As he swings, he faintly recalls the movie theater’s employee’s words. She had mentioned an accident briefly but Mark had been too worried about Minho that he had completely ignored it. Mark pushes himself to go faster, to get there sooner. 

Only when Mark gets near the building he is shocked to find a few floors on fire. He can see broken windows with smoke coming out of them. Through the ringing of his ears, Mark can hear the telltale sound of the firefighters on their way. When he lands the policemen watching overtake one look at him before shaking their heads. Mark ignores what they say, only hearing the words ‘too dangerous’ and ‘help is on the way’ before he cuts them off. 

“Is he here?” Mark asks and the two freeze. 

“Is who here?” One of them asks, face confused. 

“Deadpool. Red suit like mine?” 

The one on the left shifts in recognition and Mark turns to him. “He’s here, yes?” 

He nods, “He helped some people out. Mostly those on the bottom floor, before he just stopped. I assume he’s stuck up there negotiating.” 

And that’s enough for Mark as he shoots a web onto the building and swings over the policemen. He can hear them shout at him but Mark doesn’t care. He found out what he needed to know and now he needs to get to Donghyuck. 

⋆⋆⋆

Stepping into the building Mark almost expects to choke with all the smoke but he doesn’t. Instead, his suit seems to hum for a second as if acknowledging the fact there was smoke surrounding Mark. A moment later the humming stops and Mark continues to breathe normally. 

Seeing isn’t that difficult either, the problem disappearing as he makes his way up the stairs. It’s only when he steps onto the seventh or eighth floor, he’d lost count at this point, when he hears a noise. Cautiously he walks further onto the floor, noticing the blood smeared on the floor. He follows the trail, leading him to a closed door. 

Pushing it open he’s greeted by the sign of a man passed out in a pool of a black looking blood that Mark assumes is his. His hands and feet are tied together behind his back with wires and when Mark searches for a pulse, he thankfully finds one making him sigh in relief. Now closer Mark can make out the black veins underneath the man’s eyes. The burnt smell is also weirdly strong, almost as if it were coming from the man. He’s reaching out intent on touching the veins when the building shakes around him, promptly stopping him. With one last look at the man, Mark stands, running out of the room and running up the stairs. 

He keeps running until he hears a loud yell. He pauses, leaning against the wall as he tries to regain his breath. He tries to focus on the people speaking but after a couple of moments, Mark seems to register that only one person is speaking, the other seems to be almost hissing? Sometimes letting out growls. 

At a particularly loud growl, Mark decides he’s fine enough to step in so he turns around the corner. The first thing Mark notes is Donghyuck, standing in the middle of the room with another man looming over him a few feet away. Donghyuck has both of his katanas raised, ready to strike at any moment. Looking at the attacker Mark can see several cuts on his arms and just as the previous man, black blood seeps out of them. 

There are black veins under his eyes as well and when Mark takes a couple of steps forward he realizes that his eyes are completely black. Mark freezes as Donghyuck quickly slings one of his katanas forward, successfully hitting the man’s left arm and making another slice. He lets out a hiss and swings his arm trying to hit Donghyuck but Donghyuck is too quick and moves away just in time for the hand to miss. 

The man lets out a growl and Mark watches as the veins underneath his eyes seem to grow darker before the ground shakes underneath them. Donghyuck stumbles forward and the man tries to grab onto him but before he can Mark shoots web forwards. It hits the middle of his palm and everything seems to pause as they take in what happened. The man looks up, meeting Mark’s eyes and Mark takes the chance to shoot another web onto his palm. Grabbing ahold of his webs he pulls back hard, successfully moving the man forward. 

Donghyuck uses the opportunity to drive one of his katanas into the man, high up on his shoulder. He lets out a shriek as he falls down onto his knees and Mark is already moving. He’s released the previous webs, sticking them onto the floor near him before repeating the action several times. Donghyuck pulls out his katana and quickly uses the butt of the two to slam it down onto the man’s head. There’s a sickening crack sound that resonates throughout the room and Mark can’t help but cringe at the noise 

The man to much of Mark’s surprise only pauses momentarily before continuing his struggle and Donghyuck seems to be just as surprised because he looks up at Mark. Unsure of what else to do, Mark shrugs as the two listen to the man’s hisses as he attempts to free himself from Mark’s webbing. Donghyuck raises his katanas up before bringing them down once more as the same cracking noise sound is heard. Only this time the man immediately stops his struggle and slumps forward. 

Mark rushes over, webbing him further before checking for a pulse. For a split second he can’t find any, and he feels his body go cold at the thought, but then he feels a faint thump against his fingers. He sighs relieved before hearing the clang of metal hitting the tile as Donghyuck drops his katanas. Before Mark even has the chance to stand up, Donghyuck falls down onto his hands and knees. 

Mark is over in an instant, pulling Donghyuck up against him. 

“ Hey? You with me?” Mark asks as he strains to look over his body for any injuries. There are some singed bits as well as cuts but other than that he can’t see anything else. 

“Hyuck? Talk to me, what’s wrong?” Mark whispers and Donghyuck’s head shifts against his neck but he doesn’t respond. 

Mark is beginning to panic when Donghyuck lets out a curt laugh. “Took you long enough, asshole.” He whispers into Mark’s neck and Mark tightens his old around Donghyuck in response. 

“I’m sorry,” Mark apologizes, wishing he could see Donghyuck’s face right now. 

“ ‘s okay,” Donghyuck mumbles and Mark nods. He’s about to ask Donghyuck if he’s okay when he hears a single clap sound throughout the room. They both freeze as the clap is repeated again and again. 

Looking up Mark comes to face a very familiar figure watching them from across the room. Donghyuck pulls away from Mark’s arm shifting so he can face in the same direction as Mark. 

“How sweet,” Min says while clapping before clasping his hands in front of him. His face is completely covered by a black mask but the usual black hood remains, a signature sign of MIN. Mark can see the quiver of arrows strapped on his back along with his bow and Donghyuck must realize it at the same time because one of his hands reaches for a katana, not far from his reach.

Before he can grab ahold of it, Min raises a hand and the katana slides against the floor far away from the both of them. 

Min clicks his teeth, shaking his head as he looks at them. “Let’s not do that,” he says, taking a step forward. 

“I see you managed to take down my two friends?” His head cocks in the direction of the webbed man. “A pity. I thought they would have put up a better fight against the two of you.” 

“Then again I shouldn’t underestimate you when you’re together.” 

When neither of them says anything Min sighs. “Fine, I’ll just get down to business. I want you to come with me.” 

“It’d be ideal if I only got you but because I know how attached spidey is I guess I have no choice but to take both.” He continues, stepping closer. 

Donghyuck beside him snorts. “You can’t be serious.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“You heard me. You really expect us to just get up and go with you? Someone who’s been attacking us for months now?” 

“Donghyuck,” Mark whispers in warning but Donghyuck doesn’t listen. “You’re fucking stupid if you think we’ll go without a fight.” He spits out and Min throws his head back as he laughs at Donghyuck’s words. 

“I never said you’d go without a fight. I very much expect a fight,” He stops, gesturing to the two of them with one of his hands. “After all it is the two of you.” 

And with that he reaches behind him, grabbing his bow at the same time that Donghyuck makes a grab for the katana still near them. With one katana in hand, Donghyuck stands up, Mark moving along with him. 

Min already has an arrow nocked and ready to shoot by the time Mark looks back at him. 

One moment they’re staring each other down and the next a knife is swirling through the air hitting Min’s bow with a clang, metal against metal, making his arrow fly forward. Mark barely feels the sting as it hits home on his right arm. Min is reaching for another arrow when Mark shoots a web on his bow, pulling at it as Donghyuck throws another knife in his direction. With Min’s free hand he waves it away and Mark pulls particularly hard making Min let go of it. Mark stumbles back as the bow comes flying toward him and Donghyuck is at his side immediately steading him. 

Mark can hear the hiss of another arrow fly through the air and he quickly turns them so Mark is covering Donghyuck. This time when the arrow hits him Mark feels it feels the pain as he moves his shoulder. When he glances down he realizes he can see the arrowhead protruding from his chest, soaked in blood. His blood. 

Min laughs behind him but Mark is too dazed to listen clearly. Donghyuck is talking to him, saying things Mark can’t even pick up. He opens his mouth trying to speak but his mouth and throat suddenly feel so dry that no sound comes out. He swallows before trying again. 

“D-Danger…lee,” he whispers. 

Mark doesn’t really know what he expects to happen when he says this, he just knows that he’s losing consciousness quickly and he can’t leave Donghyuck alone to fight with Min. So when he suddenly feels a crawling sensation run throughout his body he’s surprised. Looking down he watches as his suit transforms, hardening around the usual spandex material. 

A glowing sort of field envelops the two of them and everything suddenly goes quiet. Mark can no longer hear Min’s laughter nor the sirens outside. He can only hear his harsh breaths and the thud of his heart in his ears. Then Donghyuck speaks, forcing Mark to focus and lookup. 

“Hey, Spidey? You have to listen to me. You have to stay awake, okay? Someone will be here soon.” He whispers and Mark wishes he could do what Donghyuck is asking of him but he already feels too far away. 

“You’re gonna be fine, just don’t go to sleep.” Donghyuck sounds panicked to Mark’s ears now as Mark’s legs give out forcing him to hold up all of Mark’s weight. Donghyuck drops down, half of Mark’s body on his lap. 

Mark knows Donghyuck is calling out his name, basically shouting it at this point but Mark’s eyelids are so heavy he can’t even bother to try to keep them open. And as he lets himself fall to the tendrils of unconsciousness Mark realizes that the arrows must have been laced with something. That this was Min’s plan all along, drug them down so he’d be able to take Donghyuck once he got hit. 

It was a smart plan, he had to admit it. Almost foolproof but what Min hadn’t taken account for was how protective Taeyong was over Mark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> um, hi? it definitely was not my intention to go this long without updating but the writer's block hit specifically hard. I apologize and hopefully, the next update won't take as long. as usual, this chapter is unbetaed and i am rusty so there's probably a ton of mistakes. 
> 
> also thank you guys so much for 5k hits and 400 kudos??? i never expected this much support when i thought of this idea. 
> 
> yeah so you guys can leave your thoughts down below and if you wanna see more of me or my story you can follow me on twitter (markminho) thank you guys for everything see you next time


	16. main priority

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha happy april fools <3

Donghyuck feels the exact moment Mark loses consciousness because he goes limp in his arms. He can feel his own body grow cold at the realization and it takes everything in him to not break down along with Mark. Donghyuck knows it wouldn’t do any good for either of them, not when they’re stuck in a situation like this. He needs to be strong for the both of them at least until help gets here, he knows it won’t take long. Mark had finally listened to Taeyong’s please and activated the suit when they had been in danger. 

He sucks in a shaky breath, willing himself to clear his mind and assess the situation. When Mark had uttered the code his suit had transformed right before his eyes, cloth becoming armour and from his spider symbol something had emerged, enveloping the two of them. It had blocked sound from outside but Donghyuck could still through it pretty easily. He watches as Min approaches them slowly, taking his time. It takes a moment for Donghyuck to realize that if he focused hard enough he could faintly make out the sirens blaring outside as well. 

Min reaches them and Donghyuck’s grip on Mark tightens, as he stares up at him. Min doesn’t say anything, only leans forward and inspects the glowing field. One of his hands reaches out, fingers pressing onto it and Donghyuck watches as it hardens against the pressure. Min presses further in and a buzz fills Donghyuck’s ears just as Min’s hand jerks back. There’s a pause as the two of them take in what happened, Donghyuck holding his breath wondering if Min would attempt to break whatever was surrounding them. Min shakes his head, body shaking with laughter. 

"Don't you even feel any shame?" He sneers. 

"You're the one who can survive death yet this boy keeps risking his life in order to protect you." 

Donghyuck doesn't say anything, doesn't even know what he'd say because Min is right. Mark didn't care that Donghyuck had healing abilities, he seemed to ignore it continually putting himself in danger just for Donghyuck's sake. 

"It's stupid if you ask me," Min continues, "why get hurt for someone who can heal from absolutely everything?" 

Donghyuck tightens his hold on Mark as he listens to Min, knows if he weren't wearing his suit and he looked down, he'd see his knuckles white. 

"Aren't you tired of this? Of always seeing him hurt because of you?" 

"Shut up." Donghyuck clenches his eyes shut willing himself to block out Min's words. 

"If you came with me right now it'd all stop. He wouldn't get hurt anymore. No one else would." 

"Shut up." Donghyuck repeats a bit louder but it only seems to fuel Min on. 

"Stop being so selfish and end this already. I'll even give you the antidote for the boy." 

At the mention of antidote Donghyuck's eyes open, head lifting to look up at Min. He laughs at Donghyuck's actions, clearly amused by his reaction. 

"What? You can't tell me you thought was just a regular arrow when he collapsed that quickly." 

Donghyuck doesn't say anything which only confirms Min's words and he hates it. Hates the fact he hadn't even thought of the arrows being laced with something. 

"It wasn't meant for him or his body. The dosage is too large for the average human being." Min shrugs as he says this nonchalantly.

Donghyuck glances down at Mark again wishing he could see his face right now. 

"So what do you say? You'll save the boy and come with me?" Min asks and his voice sounds way too smug to Donghyuck's ears. As if he had already won. 

Donghyuck takes a deep breath before looking up. 

"Go fuck yourself." He tells him and Min sighs. He watches as Min's shoulders fall in, as he shakes his head in mock disappointment. 

"Selfish boy." And with that he raises both his hands bringing them onto the surface of the shield. Only this time, blackness seems to flow from them. Whatever it is, it bundles up around Min's palms and hits the shield square on. 

Nothing happens at first but then Donghyuck realizes in horror that the shield seems to flicker in the spot where the blackness is hitting it. His heart drops and he straightens, mind racing as he tries to work out a plan. 

"Last chance," Min calls out as the blackness seeps out at a much quicker rate than before. 

Donghyuck for a split second actually considers it as the shield flickers again. Then a bright circle appears some feet behind Min, watches as reality seems to split open for Yukhei, Jaehyun, and Sicheng to walk through it. 

Even from a distance Donghyuck can tell the exact moment they realize the gravity of the situation because they all move in sync. Jaehyun throws his shield at the same time that Yukhei tosses his hammer forward, Sicheng making some weird hand gestures before some glowing circle runes appear. 

Only none of it actually hits Min because one moment he's standing in front of Donghyuck and the next he's gone. The blackness spreads down as the source disappears and Donghyuck looks around trying to figure out where he went but he's completely gone, vanished in thin air. 

Jaehyun, Sicheng, and Yukhei are over in an instance. Everything happens so quickly that Donghyuck misses when the shield comes down, only realizing this as Jaehyun is shaking his shoulder asking him to loosen his grip on Mark. Shocked, Donghyuck listens and it's enough for him to pull Mark out of his arms. Yukhei is helping Donghyuck up next and Sicheng has already created another portal. 

Everything is moving too quickly for Donghyuck to keep up. He can faintly hear them all talking, whether it's to him or to each other, Donghyuck is unsure of all of the words falling short for him. He's being pushed forward by Yukhei and they're stepping into the portal and stepping into a crisp white room next. 

He feels his legs give out, Yukhei's grip on him not tight enough for him to not fall. His knees hit the tile and Donghyuck feels the pain shoot up his thighs, hears as someone calls out his name before the darkness takes over. 

⋆⋆⋆

Mark bites back a groan as he struggles to sit up. One of his hands slips on the wet cement under him and his body slams down, head hitting the ground. Everything blurs for a long moment, Mark lays there feeling the rain hit his body as he continues to ache everywhere. 

He knows he can’t stay here. He needs to get up and find shelter. Doesn’t know if whoever he was fighting has caught up with him already. He could have for all Mark knows. After the fall he had clearly passed out from the impact and Mark can’t tell how long he was out for. It’s just as dark as it had been before, the rain still coming down. 

Mark closes his eyes, willing himself to focus despite the pain he’s feeling. He needs to get home, Jungwoo must be worried by now. And if Jungwoo was worried Mark knew it wouldn’t be long before he called Taeyong. If Taeyong heard about this there’d be another fight about responsibility, something Mark definitely did not want. 

He clenches his teeth trying once again to sit up to no avail. As soon as he shifted his body cramped and he couldn’t help the sharp yelp that escaped his mouth as the pain hit him square on. Much to Mark’s surprise he feels his eyes begin to water. His face feels hot and suddenly it’s too much for him. 

The sob that bursts through him is unexpected and Mark doesn’t even know why he’s crying. He knows he’s in pain but that’s never made him cry before. As his breathing quickens he feels more and more frustrated at his lack of strength. How could he be an Avenger when he couldn’t even get up after a fight? 

Maybe Taeyong was right. Maybe he wasn’t ready for this. 

Another sob builds in in his chest, the tears flowing freely down his face at this point. He’s struggling to breathe, ears ringing when he feels a hand grip his shoulder. He moves back quickly, blinking rapidly trying to clear his vision as he raises his free hand. Only the person is quick to shush them, grip loosening.  
Mark still can’t see clearly between his tears and rain falling so he continues to struggle. His hand moves forward and hits home on something hard, making pain shoot up his arm. It oddly felt like pins and needles. Something in this seems to click in Mark’s head and he stops, gasping for air trying to talk. 

“Taeyong?” He chokes out, and it sounds so jumbled to Mark’s own ears. He can’t even imagine how it must sound to him. 

The person shushes him again and through the ringing he hears a click and a hiss. He faintly makes out Taeyong’s face leaning over him. 

“It’s okay, Mark.” He tells him, his eyes shifting down to look over his body. Mark tries to nod but he can’t really shift his head in the position he’s in so he stops after a second. His eyes flutter shut, knowing he can now that Taeyong is here. The tears have slowed considerably but a knot has started to grow in his throat, making it hard to swallow. 

“Mark?” Taeyong calls out making Mark startle. This time when he tries to open his eyes he is met with some resistance as they feel heavier than before and he can only bring himself to open them halfway. 

“You need to stay awake, Mark. Okay? Whatever you do, don't go to sleep.” It sounds like Taeyong is shouting at him but Mark knows he is speaking normally. It just sounds like that to Mark’s ears. 

“Are you listening to me, Mark?” He asks and Taeyong has moved down, leaning right over him blocking the rain from hitting Mark. He’s staring into his eyes and this up close Mark can see the panic swimming in his eyes. His face pinches at the realization, faintly wondering if he looks worse than he feels. 

He opens his mouth to reply but nothing comes out, the knot too big. Taeyong watches him and nods once before asking Mark to give him a second. He leans back, raising an arm over Mark and Mark watches as the iron surrounding Taeyong expands until it’s shielding Mark from the rain once again. Taeyong is murmuring something and then a light shoots down from the middle of Taeyong’s open palm and it scans down Mark’s body. 

Mark faintly hears another voice talk to Taeyong and whatever they say must make Taeyong upset because he starts arguing with them. Mark’s eyes close involuntary but he wills himself to stay awake a bit longer, focusing on Taeyong's voice. 

He doesn’t know how much time passes before Taeyong notices Mark’s eyes closed but suddenly he’s right next to him again, asking Mark to open his eyes but Mark can’t. Taeyong calls out his name again, this time louder and when Mark doesn’t move he curses. 

“Ten I need to move him. He’s going to die if I don’t do something!” He shouts and despite the closeness of the two, it sounds almost distant to Mark. 

“He’s in a very delicate state right now, Taeyong. Whether you move him or not he’s going to have some serious consequences but I still don’t think you should move him.” The voice replies and Taeyong laughs without humor. 

“I can’t just sit here and watch him die. I won’t do that Ten.”

“Where will you take him then?” 

“I don’t fucking know! Anything is better than this!” He bursts out and Mark can hear him breathe in and out a couple times as he tries to compose himself. 

A ringing fills Mark’s ears and he realizes that it’s from an incoming call. 

“Sir? Doyoung is calling you.” The voice informs him and taeyong tells him to answer. 

“Taeyong? I need you to tell me where you are right now.” Doyoung rushes to say. “I can help Mark.” 

“I already sent you his results, Doyoung.” Taeyong replies and he sounds so defeated it hurts Mark to listen. He struggles with himself, trying to open his eyes but they’re so heavy, it’s no use. 

“Fuck the results. I know someone who can help us. Will help us.” He tells him. 

“How?” Taeyong chokes out and Doyoung explains something to him that Mark doesn’t quite catch. He’s having a hard time staying awake already feeling himself falling into the grasp of unconsciousness. 

There’s another pause as time passes while Mark fights with himself to not sleep. He’s about to lose, mentally saying goodbye to Taeyong wishing he could hear his thoughts when he feels something snap within him. One minute he’s laying on the ground, Taeyong next to him and the next he feels weightless. 

This time when he tries to open his eyes, they give away easily. Mark is looking down at Taeyong. Looking down at himself. 

His face drops as he takes himself in. No wonder Taeyong had seemed so panicked. He realizes the situation he’s in just as a voice he’s never heard before call out his name. Slowly he turns in the direction the voice had sounded and comes to face with a pink haired boy. 

“Mark, right?” He asks again and hesitantly takes a step forward, moving closer to Mark. 

Mark finds himself nodding and the boy smiles at him, with too much teeth Mark seems to note. 

“I can help you Mark. But only if you want me to. Do you understand?” He asks and Mark glances over his shoulder to look back at Taeyong. He’s clutching Mark’s body to his chest, head low and and Mark knows he must be crying. 

“Do you want me to help you, Mark?” 

⋆⋆⋆

It takes a moment for Mark to fully wake up. The beeping in the otherwise silent room is what prompts Mark to open his eyes, in search of the annoying sound. He blinks once as his eyes adjust to the dim lighting of the room. The first thing he sees is Taeyong who sits across from where Mark is currently laying. 

His head is leaned back and Mark can see his eyes are closed, he’s sleeping. Even asleep his face shows clear signs of worry making embarrassment and shame fills Mark’s senses. He’d made Taeyong worry too many times than he would have liked in the past two years since he had met him. It seemed to have gotten worse ever since he had been introduced to Donghyuck. 

Speaking of which, when Mark looks away from Taeyong he’s surprised to find Donghyuck in a similar position. Only he’s sitting next to Mark’s bed, his head resting on the bed near his hand. Just like Taeyong, he’s sleeping. 

Mark sighs quietly. His throat is dry and he’d kill for some water right now but he doesn’t want to wake either of them and getting up isn’t an option with the way he’s hooked up to the monitor besides him. Instead he stares up at the ceiling trying to distract himself from his thirst. 

He knows he must have passed out after getting hit with an arrow. The slight throbbing in the right side of his chest was a clear sign of the damage it had left behind. If Mark hadn’t stepped in then Donghyuck would be in his place right now. He knows he would have activated his suit regardless, to make sure that Min wouldn’t take Donghyuck. His mind trails off and suddenly he’s reminded of the dream he had. 

He can’t remember much, only flashes but it’s enough to leave him confused. He fell, that he’s sure of. It was raining? And there was a boy he had never seen before in his life. He’d ask him if he wanted his help. 

The door opens breaking Mark free of his thoughts. He looks over in the direction of the door meeting Doyoung’s eyes which widen as he realizes Mark is awake. His mouth opens, ready to say something but Mark moves faster rushing to put a finger to his lips. Doyoung gets the hint, closing his mouth and nodding at Mark. He rushed over to Mark not even bothering to close the door behind him immediately placing the back of his hand to Mark’s forehead, eyes scanning the monitor. 

Satisfied with whatever he concludes, Doyoung pulls his hand away looking down at Mark. 

“How do you feel?” He whispers softly and Mark lifts his shoulder up in a half assed shrug, careful to not move his right side. 

“Do you want some water? You must be thirsty.” Mark’s nodding before Doyoung even finishes and his lips twitch as if he were holding himself back from smiling. He tells him he’ll be right back and walks out. It doesn’t take him long to return and soon Mark is gulping the water down with Doyoung whispering to him to drink slower. 

When Mark finally feels satisfied, his throat no longer dry, he hands the now almost empty cup back to Doyoung. Doyoung takes it and places it on the empty bedside table. 

“How long was I out for?” Mark whispers, cringing at how rough his voice sounds. 

“You’ve been in and out of consciousness for the past 30 hours. It's around three in the morning right now.” Doyoung glances over at Taeyong and Donghyuck as he says the last bit. 

“Guess that explains why the two of them are sleeping,” Mark mutters and Doyoung nods. “They haven’t left your side, been waiting for you to wake up.” 

Mark sighs. “Yukhei, Jungwoo, Sicheng, and Jaehyun would have done the same if Taeyong hadn’t ordered them to leave. We can’t have all of the Avengers vulnerable, now.” 

“Is whatever Min injected me with out of my body?” He asks. 

“Honestly? I’m not completely sure. By the time they brought you to me twenty minutes or so had passed since you had activated your suit. I still had to take the arrow out while making sure everything was okay within. By the time I got it out, I couldn’t get any traces of whatever venom was in the arrow but your body had already begun to heal itself. You had a very high fever and I took it as a sign of your body's own self defense mechanism." 

Mark nods as he takes in what Doyoung said. “I’ve been doing blood work every couple of hours and have Ten making sure your breathing is normal. He had just informed me of some high level readings which is why I came to check up on you.” 

“Thank you,” Mark whispers. Doyoung seems to freeze, clearly not expecting Mark to say that before he reaches out and ruffles his hair with a fond smile on his face. 

“You still have a fever now, although it’s not as bad as before.” Doyoung notes, ruffling Mark’s hair once more before pulling his hand away. “You should sleep some more.” 

Mark wants to complain and say he’s already slept way more than he needed but suddenly he feels exhausted. Doyoung must see it in Mark’s face because a knowing look fills his eyes. Mark looks away, glancing down at Donghyuck. 

“Will you tell them to go sleep on an actual bed whenever they wake up?” Mark meets Doyoung’s gaze. “I will. I can't promise either one of them will listen to me, though.” 

Mark nods, that’s fair. “Thanks,” he mumbles, eyes droopy already. Doyoung says something that Mark doesn’t quite catch, he’s moved to check on the IV bag on the other side of him. 

Mark’s eyes close, breathing slowing as he surrenders himself to unconsciousness. His last thought before falling completely asleep is that both Taeyong and Donghyuck will wake up to killer neck pain from the positions they had slept in. 

⋆⋆⋆

The next time Mark wakes up, it’s to the feeling of something cold being placed on his forehead. His nose scrunches at the feeling and he feels movement above him making his hand involuntary raise forward quickly, grabbing a hold of someone’s wrist. There’s a soft gasp and then Mark’s opening his eyes. 

They land on his own pale fingers wrapped around sun kissed skin. He blinks trying to rid himself of the last tendrils of sleep that still remain, mind moving at a sluggish place. Only when he finally feels awake enough does he follow the wrist and meet Donghyuck’s wide eyes staring back at him. The warm brown Mark was used to seeing is glassy and Mark realizes there are tears in his eyes. Upon this realization he releases his grip immediately, his hand hitting his chest making him wince from the slight burn that he feels. 

Donghyuck’s hand falls limp against his side and for a long moment they do nothing but look at one another. Mark’s face feels incredibly warm and he wonders if his fever is bad or it’s just from his embarrassment. Mark looks away unsure of what to say then Donghyuck sniffles effectively breaking the silence and making Mark look back at him, shocked. 

Donghyuck is no longer looking at him, his head tilted back slightly as he stares at the ceiling. He sniffles once, twice, then thrice before looking backing down at Mark. 

Mark opens his mouth an apology on the tip of his tongue when Donghyuck beats him to it. 

“I hate you.” He tells him and Mark lets out a confused noise. 

“What?” He whispers and Donghyuck straightens, standing taller. 

“I hate you.” He repeats clearer this time. 

“I-okay?” Mark stumbles to say, unsure of if Donghyuck was being serious right now. “I’m sorry.” He apologizes as an afterthought in case he really was being serious. 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “Yeah well,” he mutters, hand reaching forward to Mark’s forehead, “apology not accepted.” He places his hand against it and the wet cloth presses further and Mark feels the coolness return making his eyes close. 

“If you ever do some dumb shit like that ever again, I’ll never talk to you.” 

Mark scoffs, a smile playing at his lips. “What makes you think I’ll care if you do that?” 

Mark doesn’t see Donghyuck’s reaction but he hears the huff he lets out. There’s a pause and Mark wonders if Donghyuck actually believed his words. He’s about to ask him when Donghyuck speaks. 

“I don’t want to live with your death in my hands, Mark Lee.” He whispers shakily and Mark feels the wind knocked out of him at his words. “I can live with all the deaths I have to my name now and the ones I’ll get in the future. But please don’t make me live with yours.” He lets out a breathless, humorless chuckle before continuing and Mark imagines he must be shaking his head right now. “I don’t want to live the rest of my life with that.” 

Mark struggles with what to say, his eyes clenched shut still. He knows it's pretty cowardly of him to do but he needs the few extra seconds. He exhales slowly through his nose as he feels the pressure on his forehead disappears along with the cloth. He hears Donghyuck step away and the tell tale sound of water dripping before he’s back. The cloth goes back on his forehead, colder than before. 

“I’m sorry, Donghyuck,” Mark whispers, opening his eyes immediately searching for Donghyuck’s. He can’t make out the expression on his face much less the one in his eyes but he doesn’t think it’s anger which is a win for him.

“Don’t apologize,” Donghyuck tells him, glancing away from Mark. “Just--Just promise me you’ll think before reacting.” 

“I-” Mark starts off but Donghyuck cuts him off before he can go any further. “You don’t have to play the hero with me. Not when I’m practically indestructible.” 

Mark can’t help but frown. Donghyuck knows how Mark feels in regard to his life, he’s made it clear several times now. In fact, they’ve had arguments about it before so how could he expect his answer to be any different from before. 

And Donghyuck must know what Mark is about to say because he looks back at his face, different than before, eyes stern as he looks down at Mark. “My life is secured. Yours isn’t. You can’t be careless just for me. I’m not worth it.” 

“Donghyuck,” Mark says, willing himself to ignore the pain crawling up his neck. “Your life is worth just as mine if not more. I won’t let you suffer just because you can.” 

“You’re not listening to me!” Donghyuck exclaims, hands flying up in exasperation. He runs a hand through his hair before speaking again. “I don’t care whether you think my life is worth it or not. I don’t need your saving, much less want it. Not when it means you’ll be in danger for me.” His words sound more and more choked up towards the end of it and Mark sits up alarmed, ignoring the way his arms ache as the IV lines are pulled roughly. The wet cloth slides down his forehead onto his blanket covered lap but Mark doesn’t acknowledge it. 

“If you die trying to save me, that’s on me. Do you understand, Mark?” He asks, eyes searching his. “It’ll be on me.” He repeats, voice lower than before. “And I don’t know if I’ll be able to live like that.” 

“Donghyuck.” He swallows, throat sore. “ I’m not going to die, I won’t let it come to that if that’s what you’re scared of.”

“Promise me, Mark.” 

“I just told you it won’t happen Donghyuck. There’s no need for it.” He reaches for one of Donghyuck’s hands, squeezing his fingers. 

“If you won’t promise me then I hope you at least stick to your word.” Donghyuck whispers and Mark nods, squeezing his fingers once more. 

Before either of them can say anything else the door opens, making the two look over. Taeyong walks in with Doyoung a step behind him. 

“Mark,” Taeyong says, immediately making his way over to him. He doesn’t hesitate to engulf him in a hug, careful of his hurt shoulder. Mark lets go of Donghyuck to hesitantly return Taeyong’s hug, the iv lines making his arms feel fuzzy but doesn’t stop his head leaning into Taeyong’s shoulder. 

Taeyong doesn’t speak, just continues to hold him for a few more seconds and Mark lets himself be held knowing Taeyong needed this. He had never been too well with words, often making Mark feel questionable. He was much better with his actions. 

When he finally pulls away, Doyoung comes up behind him fuzzing over Mark sitting up. Taeyong nods, moving away to sit at the end of the bed as Doyoung fixes the pillows behind Mark so he can lean back. Once that’s settled he checks over the iv lines, clicking his teeth but otherwise not saying much. 

“He’s doing okay?” Taeyong asks and Doyoung shrugs. 

“Now that he’s awake you can ask him instead of asking me or Donghyuck every ten minutes.” 

“He also asks me.” Ten’s voice sounds through the room startling Mark. 

“Yes, yes. I forgot about you too.” 

“Well, Mark how do you feel?” Taeyong asks and despite seeing him fully awake, Mark knows he’s still worried. He can see it in his eyes. 

He glances over at where Donghyuck had stood, finds him sitting in the chair from before looking down at his feet. 

“I’m fine, I just really need to use the restroom and brush my teeth.” He tells him making Ten snort. 

“Thank god, your breath stinks,” Donghyuck says, attitude completely different than before. He looks up from his shoes, a smile on his face. 

“Let’s go, I’ll push your iv line,” Doyoung mutters, hand already extending over Mark to help him up. 

⋆⋆⋆

It’s later when Mark finds himself surrounded by the avengers--Jungwoo and Donghyuck. One minute he had been alone with Donghyuck then Taeyong had walked in with the rest of them trailing behind him. 

“Son of Lee!” Yukhei exclaims, rushing over to him, arms stretched wide. Donghyuck stops him before he can envelop him, warning him to be careful of his shoulder to which he agrees to. Mark pats his back awkwardly as he returns the hug. 

“Yukhei let go of him. There are things we need to discuss.” Taeyong says and after a beat Yukhei listens, straightening and walking over to where Jungwoo stands. Mark glances around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes briefly. They all wear serious faces but Mark can see the relief in their eyes. 

“The DNA samples I got from the people they found in the building showed their DNA was tampered with. It’s safe to assume Min is responsible,” Doyoung says, eyes on Taeyong who stands a few steps away from the foot of Mark’s bed, in the center. 

“Tampered how?” Taeyong asks. 

“Well, I wasn’t there to witness it,” he glances over to Mark and Donghyuck as he says this, “but I’m sure the boys can explain what I mean.” All eyes turn to them but Mark has no idea what Doyoung is talking about and he’s sure his face shows it. He turns to Donghyuck, confused, and realizes he was already looking at him. 

“Um…” Donghyuck starts, “Mark didn’t really get to see what I did because he got there after me.” He pauses, face unsure of whether he should continue or not but Mark nods encouraging him to continue. 

“So he didn’t really get to see them in action, well at least not the first one.” And Mark remembers this clearly. Remembers having found the unconscious man tied up in one of the rooms which reeked of smoke. “When I found him he was up in flames. His whole body was on fire except his face. His eyes were pitch black and he seemed to be gagging on some black liquid that kept coming up. Was a real bitch to put down.” 

“He was gifted?” Jaehyun asks and Donghyuck looks away from Mark to Jaehyun. 

“I don’t think so. It seemed like his body wasn’t taking the fire all that well which is why he was throwing up the black stuff.” 

“The second one was better.” Mark notes and Donghyuck nods in agreement. “His eyes were black still and his mouth was stained as well but he wasn’t choking or anything.” 

“That one had abilities too?” It’s Sicheng who asks this and Mark wonders if he did have an ability he hadn’t seen. Everything had moved too quickly, only remembers moving quickly for Donghyuck’s sake and the building had seemed to shake. 

The building had shaken. 

“Oh!” Mark exclaims at the realization making everyone turn to him. “He must have had a gravity ability or something because when he got angry the building would shake.” Mark tells them. 

“That’s what I thought as well.” 

“So they had abilities which is why their DNA was different?” 

“No,” Taeyong says. “What Doyoung is trying to say is that Min gave them those abilities. They were experiencing second-hand effects because their bodies were not fit for them in the first place.” The room goes eerily quiet after that as they all stare at one another. 

“So not only does he seem to have abilities himself but he can also give them to others as well?” Jaehyun asks, needing to be sure of what was being said. 

Doyoung nods once. “Yes, which means this isn’t just about Mark and Donghyuck anymore. It goes bigger than that.” 

“He’s become a potential threat to the world.” Sicheng states. 

“And in doing so he’s become our biggest priority,” Jaehyun says and Taeyong who stands beside him nods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, it's been a while. As usual, this is unbetaed so please ignore the mistakes because I'm sure there's a ton. I'm sorry for the wait, life's been a lot as you can tell. I hope you all are taking care of yourself and practicing social distancing.I hope reading this helped you take your mind off of everything even if it was only for a bit. Next chapter will be one of my favorites I think so you can look forward to it! :D
> 
> Here is my twitter in case you ever want to ask me any questions !


	17. actions and their consequences

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always this chapter is unbetaed, it's been a while so there will probably be a lot more than normal. despite that i hope you can still manage to enjoy the chapter (you can always come yell at me on my twt: markminho)

Things change after that. Mark is put to three more days of bedrest and despite his complaints about feeling fine, Doyoung doesn’t listen. So Mark spends three more days in bed with Donghyuck by his side, to keep him company. They alternate between watching the anime they had started together and random youtube videos that Donghyuck chooses. Sometimes Yukhei and Sicheng join them, though not for long, because they have important Avenger things to do. Mark doesn’t ask, mostly because he knows they won’t tell him without Taeyong’s approval. 

The day after his bedrest is officially lifted, Mark wakes up extra early to shower and get himself ready. He showers quickly, pulling on some sweatpants before going back to his bathroom. He had removed the bandaging to shower and needed to reapply it. Mark stands staring at himself through the mirror, at the ugly wound for the first time. 

It was still in the process of healing so it shouldn’t shock Mark to see the inflamed red surrounding the skin but for some reason it does. He leans forward on his toes to get a closer look at it, faintly wondering if it’d end up leaving behind a scar. He could never tell with his injuries because his body tended to heal at different rates depending on the severity. With one last look at it, Mark reapplies the bandaging before putting on a random black tee. 

He’s walking out of the bathroom when his room door opens, Taeyong walking in. He doesn’t seem at all surprised to see Mark up and awake already simply closing the door behind him and walking over to sit in Mark’s desk chair. 

He must seem confused to Taeyong because a second later he tells him, “Ten told me you were awake already,” finally meeting Mark’s gaze. 

“He knew I was awake?” Mark asks, shaking his head slightly to get the hair out of his face. It was still a bit damp and was sticking to his face. 

“Ten has access to all the rooms in the house.” 

“So….he saw me wake up?”

A sigh is heard in the room and Mark can’t help but shiver whenever Ten randomly shows up. 

“Technically, yes, I did see you wake up. I can see everything that is happening in the house at any time I wish,” Ten explains, his voice sounding oddly tired for an intelligence system.   
Mark nods, moving to go sit on the edge of his bed facing Taeyong. 

“Am I in trouble?” Mark questions, suddenly feeling as if he could be. He tries to remember if he’d done anything questionable these past three days but can’t find anything that would necessarily upset Taeyong. 

“You’re not. I just wanted to see how you were doing,” Taeyong’s eyes scan over Mark’s appearance as Mark breathes out in relief, knowing they were okay. 

“Your shoulder okay? No problem moving your arm or anything?” 

Mark lifts his shoulder up and down slightly to show Taeyong he was fine. “It’s still healing but everything is okay.” 

Taeyong hums in response, eyes scanning over him once again. “You haven’t experienced any side effects from whatever Min injected you with, right?” 

Mark shakes his head immediately. “I haven’t felt weird or anything since I woke up. The only thing it really did was give me this weird dream.” 

“Dream?” Taeyong asks and Mark knows he’s asking him to explain. “I don’t really remember all of it? I just know it was very vivid. Felt like I was actually living it.” 

“You don’t remember any of it?” 

Mark closes his eyes, leaning back onto his hands so most of his body is facing his ceiling as he tries to recall any lingering memory he has of the dream. 

“Rain,” He mumbles, eyes still closed as he faintly recalls the feeling of rain hitting his body. 

“What?” 

“There was rain.” Mark says, louder. 

His eyes clench, trying to remember anything else. Mark hears Taeyong say something but he doesn’t quite catch what it is, too lost in his own thoughts. 

Mark’s eyes snap open when he recalls something else. 

“Pink hair. There was someone with pink hair.” 

“Pink hair?” Taeyong repeats and his words sound oddly choked to Mark which makes him sit up, his full attention on Taeyong. 

His face is composed but he’s sitting way too stiff, completely different than he had been before. When Mark meets his eyes there’s something that Mark can’t completely decipher. 

“Pink hair?” Taeyong asks again, and Mark wonders if there’s something he’s missing.

“Yes?” Mark says, only he can’t hide his confusion which ends up making it sound like a question. “Can’t remember what he looked like but I know he had pink hair.”

Taeyong doesn’t say anything, only continues staring at him. It’s only after several minutes of silence, when Mark grows uncomfortable and starts to fidget, that he seems to be pulled out of his trance. He blinks once and sits back in the chair, body noticeably relaxing. 

“Seems like it was a result of whatever Min got in you.” He finally explains. “Unless you’ve met someone with pink hair?” 

“I think it’d be pretty hard to forget someone with pink hair.” Mark tells him and Taeyong nods, a small smile on his face that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. He doesn’t want to push Taeyong, knowing whatever he was worrying about he’d end up telling him sooner or later. 

“Donghyuck told me something I wanted to ask you about?” He says, switching the topic. “I know he was put on a killing ban while he stays with me but I guess I didn’t know the extent to it?” 

“What do you mean by that?” 

“Well.” Mark pauses, faintly wondering if he was overthinking Donghyuck’s words. “He mentioned having deaths to his name but he made it seem like, I don’t know? Like he had a lot more than he should have?” 

“Ahh, so he told you?” Taeyong asks and Mark’s eyebrows furrow. 

He shakes his head, “He didn’t tell me anything. Just mentioned having deaths to his name but the way he said it was different. It didn’t seem like a superhero thing, you know? We all have deaths we can’t prevent but he seemed very conscious of his.” 

Taeyong sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I would have thought he’d told you everything by now, as it seems the two of you are closer, but I guess I was wrong.” 

Mark’s about to ask him what he means by that when Taeyong speaks again. “If you want to know what he meant by that you’ll have to ask him yourself. It’s not something I should tell. I’m sure if you ask, he’ll speak and if he’s not ready you’ll have to wait until he is.” 

“So there is something he’s hiding from me?” 

“Not hiding, Mark. I’m sure you haven’t told him much either, or am I wrong to assume that?” 

Mark’s face warms at that and his eyes drop down to his floor. That’s enough for Taeyong because he hums, “Exactly. You have no right to be upset about this when you haven’t opened up either. Friendships are a two way thing, not single sided. If you want him to open up to you, you’re going to have to do the same.”

“Since when did you get so good at this.” Mark teases and he hears Taeyong falter in what he was beginning to say, stuttering before going silent. When he looks up again he finds Taeyong a bit redder than before which makes Mark smile. 

“I don’t want to hear it.” He tells Mark, a hand coming up to cover his face and Mark can’t help but laugh. He’s still laughing when the door opens and Donghyuck’s head peeks through. 

His eyes widen slightly at the sight of Mark awake already, a second later the rest of the door is pushed open and Donghyuck walks in. 

“You’re awake early,” He says, completely missing Taeyong. 

“Nah, I’m still sleeping.” Mark leans back so he’s laying on his back, closing his eyes and letting out a fake snore. 

Donghyuck clicks his teeth, swatting Mark’s right thigh as he sits down next to him. Mark hears him gasp and lets out a string of curses which makes Mark sit up. Donghyuck is clutching his chest, staring at Taeyong who’s smiling. 

“You’ve been here the whole time?” Donghyuck asks and he nods. 

“What the fuck?” 

“Don’t worry I’m leaving now.” He stands. “I need to go work on some things. I’ll leave the two of you to do whatever it is you do.” 

Taeyong looks over at Mark once more before leaving, closing the door behind him. 

“How did I not see him? He’s so weird!” Donghyuck exclaims, throwing himself back onto Mark’s bed. 

Mark rolls his eyes, knowing Donghyuck is being dramatic. “You’re being overdramatic. Taeyong isn’t even weird.” 

“Of course you would say that! He loves you so you don’t see it. Therefore your opinion is invalid.” 

“You aren’t even making sense now.” 

“Just...Shut up Mark. Let’s go make breakfast.”

⋆⋆⋆

Turns out the work Taeyong needed to do was work on the new suit prototypes. He’d been missing since the morning talk he’d had with Mark and when Mark had asked where he’d gone, no one would tell him. He’d even asked Yukhei who seemed like the type to give in easily but Jungwoo had glared at him before Yukhei could respond.

So Mark found himself spending the day with Donghyuck once again. They were curled up on Mark’s bed watching some random movie Donghyuck had chosen, when a familiar orange ring had appeared in the center of Mark’s room. Mark and Donghyuck watched it grow in size until it was large enough for them to see into a brightly lit room. Mark feels Donghyuck’s gaze on him, clearly confused, but before Mark has the chance to voice his own confusion Taeyong steps out of the ring and into Mark’s room. 

He’s changed since Mark had last seen, clothes clearly more worn in than his usual attire. His hair messy as if he had run his hand through it several times. 

“I need you guys to come with me,” He tells them and Donghyuck sits up at his words. 

“Are we going on a mission?” Donghyuck asks, sounding very excited out of nowhere. 

“Fortunately we’re not. I just need to check some things on your new suits and need you to be there when I do.” 

Donghyuck mumbles something that Mark doesn’t quite catch, standing up as he does. Mark follows after him, slipping on some shoes before walking over to Taeyong. Donghyuck has already stepped into the other room, Taeyong staying back to wait for him. When he walks through it, it doesn’t feel like anything Mark had imagined it to. In fact, it doesn’t feel like anything at all. 

Mark has to squeeze his eyes closed for a second, having been used to the darkness his room had been. When he opens them again, he only has a moment to look around before Donghyuck is grabbing his hand and pulling him somewhere. 

“Dude, Look!” He exclaims as he drags Mark with him. He looks ahead, wondering what could be making Donghyuck so excited when he sees it. One of the far walls is lined up with multiple iron suits behind glass casing. His mouth falls open a bit at the sight, suddenly just as giddy as Donghyuck. They stop in front of one of the cases, close enough that if Mark focuses he can make out his reflection on the glass, staring back at him faintly. 

“Can we try one on?” Donghyuck calls out, turning his head slightly to look back at Taeyong. 

“Absolutely not,” Taeyong answers and Donghyuck deflates next to him, frowning. 

“Why not?” He questions, turning back to stare at the suit before them. The red and gold armour shining back at them in an almost taunting manner. 

“Because.” 

Donghyuck clicks his teeth, “That’s not even an answer.” he whines. 

“If you got ahold of one of Taeyong’s suits I think we’d have to evacuate the city.” Sicheng says, appearing next to the two of them. Mark startles, jumping slightly at the suddenness while he feels Donghyuck squeeze his hand. 

“That’s awfully rude don’t you think? I’m not that bad.” He pouts as he says the last bit, facing Mark. “Tell them, Mark. Tell them I’m not as bad as they think I am.” 

“What?” Mark mutters, glancing back at the suit. 

“Mark!” Donghyuck whines out, stepping forward to get closer to Mark. He leans into Mark’s side, careful of his wound, resting his head on Mark’s shoulder. Mark ignores him, eyes scanning over the suit mentally noting the subtle differences from the day to day suit Taeyong tended to use.

“Tell them I’m a changed man.” 

Mark’s eyebrows raise at Donghyuck’s words, he tilts his head down slightly to look into Donghyuck’s eyes. “If you’re a changed man like you say you are, join The Avengers.” 

It’s almost scary how fast Donghyuck’s mood changes. Mark feels him freeze against him, playfulness falling from his face as he stares at Mark. He’s squeezing Mark’s hand tightly, almost to the point where it’s beginning to hurt but Mark ignores the feeling. He doesn’t know why he said that, hadn’t thought it’d affect Donghyuck this much. He’s stupid because he’s well aware of how touchy the subject is to Donghyuck, hadn’t thought twice before letting the words fall from his lips. 

He opens his mouth, unsure of what he wants to say. Just knows he has to say something because Donghyuck’s staring at him with an expression in his eyes Mark has never seen before. It’s making his skin crawl and Mark wants it gone. Now. 

Only Donghyuck beats him to it, letting out a questioning hum. His grip on Mark’s hand loosens considerably as he straightens. He tries to take a step back, tries to put some distance between himself and Mark, but Mark doesn’t let him. He tightens his hold on Donghyuck’s hand, watches as Donghyuck’s eyes flicker down to look at their clasped hand before looking back at Mark. 

“I-I...Donghyuck,” Mark breathes out, voice barely above a whisper. Donghyuck’s gaze falls back down to their hands and Mark wonders if he should apologize for saying what he said. 

Donghyuck sighs, eyes fluttering shut for a second. When he opens them, looking back at Mark he no longer wears the expression from before. 

“It’s fine,” He says. 

“It’s fine,” He repeats and it sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself of this rather than Mark. 

And Mark wants to say something desperately, to mend whatever he had broken when he said those words but a cough behind him pulls them away from the bubble they had been in. He blinks, suddenly realizing they weren’t the only people in the room despite what his mind had thought. 

Donghyuck is no longer looking at him but rather behind him at Taeyong and Sicheng who were on the other side of the room. 

Mark squeezes Donghyuck’s hand to get his attention but Donghyuck doesn’t look away from them. 

“Donghyuck...please.” 

Donghyuck doesn’t look at him, keeps his eyes on Taeyong and Sicheng, only mutters “I said it was fine, Mark.” This time when Donghyuck tries to pull his hand away from him, Mark lets him. 

He walks past Mark asking Taeyong if he can see his new suit and Mark stands there, trying to process just how quickly things went down the drain in a matter of minutes. He can hear Taeyong explaining the upgrades he’d added into his suit and he breathes out before turning around. Sicheng is walking up to him and Mark forces himself to smile. 

“Do you want to go get some frozen yogurt?” He asks, surprising Mark. 

“Um. I don’t really like yogurt.” Mark responds, confused on where this was coming from. Hadn’t Taeyong said he needed the two of them here yet Sicheng was trying to take him away. 

Sicheng gives him a look before shaking his head. “Okay, let’s go get ice cream instead.” 

It takes another moment for it to click but then Mark understands what Sicheng is doing. He nods and Sicheng gives him a small smile before taking a step to the side. He moves his left hand in a circle, opening a portal, motioning for Mark to go ahead Mark. 

Mark glances over to where Donghyuck is and tries not to take it personal when all he’s met with is his back. He shakes his head, trying to clear his mind before looking through the portal and stepping forward with Sicheng right behind him. 

⋆⋆⋆

Mark is feeling much more composed by the time they go back. They weren’t gone for long, maybe half an hour at most, but it had really helped to escape for a bit. 

He isn’t sure what he is expecting to find when he steps back into Taeyong’s work room but finding Donghyuck, seemingly alone as he paces around in circles with his head down, is definitely not something he thought he'd see. 

“What’s wrong?” Mark asks, and Donghyuck's head snaps up. His eyes are wide as they meet Mark's before he's rushing forward and enveloping him in a tight hug. 

Mark grunts as Donghyuck's body slams into his, stumbling back a bit from the force, but Donghyuck ignores it. Donghyuck is leaning slightly more into Mark's unhurt side and Mark wonders if he should return the hug despite what had happened earlier. 

"What happened?" Sicheng asks from behind Mark. Donghyuck doesn't answer, just tightens his grip on Mark. 

"Donghyuck?" He whispers as Sicheng steps around them so he's facing Mark. His face is serious, eyes scanning Donghyuck as if he were searching for any signs of an injury. From what Mark had seen before Donghyuck had come running to him he seemed to be fine but the way he was clinging onto him was making Mark feel uneasy. 

"Where's Taeyong? I need you to tell me Donghyuck." 

"He went to go help the others." Donghyuck says, the words sounding muffled with the way he speaks into Mark's shoulder. 

"The others? Did something happen?"

Donghyuck's grip tightens around him but otherwise does not say anything. Mark looks up at Sicheng, silently asking him what he should do but he just stared back at him almost expectantly. Mark sighs internally before moving, grabbing ahold of Donghyuck's shoulders and shoving him away from his body. 

Donghyuck doesn't struggle in Mark's grasp, lets himself be pulled back just enough so Mark can look him in the eye. 

"Donghyuck? You with me, yeah?" He breathes and Donghyuck stares back at him, almost blankly. 

Mark lifts one of his hands to push Donghyuck's hair back, tucking it behind his ear. He blinks at the gesture and Mark watches as his eyes seem to focus. Donghyuck gasps and his hands clutch at Mark’s shirt in what seems like panic. 

“He needs to know. You need to tell him!” He tells him in a hurry. 

“Tell him what?” Mark asks at the same time that Sicheng asks, “Tell who?”

Donghyuck lets go of Mark’s shirt, stepping away from Mark to face Sicheng. 

“Taeyong. He thinks Min has Mark.” 

“How? He knew I was with Sicheng.” Donghyuck’s shaking his head before Mark can even finish. “I don’t know how but Min made it seem like he had taken you hostage. The others were called in by the city to help with a large sighting of creatures and when Taeyong was trying to get in touch with them the call was interrupted.” 

“By Min?” Sicheng guesses and Donghyuck nods in confirmation. 

“He told him he had you.” Donghyuck looks back at Mark, “Wanted to do a trade.” 

“Me for you.” Mark whispers, his skin crawling. 

Donghyuck swallows hard before nodding once. “I wanted to do it. Was willing to go alone but Taeyong refused. Told Min there was no way of knowing whether he really had you or not.” 

“He laughed at that and Taeyong was about to hang up when we heard you talk through the line. You asked us not to go, that you’d be fine before you cried out in pain. Taeyong asked what had happened and Min told him his patience was running thin, that if he wanted you alive he’d hurry along and bring me to him.” 

“Taeyong again refused, wanted to see you for himself and see if you were hurt. Min didn’t agree and we could hear you in the background, it sounded like they were torturing you. At a particularly loud cry he finally agreed to meet Min.” 

“You’re still here though?” 

“When the call ended he told me I wasn’t going. He’d take Jungwoo with him in my suit. That I was to get ahold to the others, let them know what was happening, and give them the address. I was waiting for them to call when you two showed up.” 

“Okay, so what do we do now? Min obviously doesn’t have me but Taeyong believes he does which puts him at a disadvantage.” 

“He won’t give up Jungwoo if that’s what you’re worrying about,” Sicheng says. 

“Of course he wouldn’t, I meant that Min is planning something big. He created a distraction to split the group and somehow knew that Taeyong would believe me to be kidnapped. Not to mention he somehow managed to replicate my voice.” Mark points out. 

“I don’t think he was planning on letting Taeyong walk out with you.” 

“You don’t mean...” Donghyuck trails off. 

“He planned on getting you like he’s wanted while taking out Taeyong. Two birds with one stone.” 

They fall into a heavy silence as they process what Sicheng just said. Mark is the first one to snap out of it, “We need to get Jaehyun, Yukhei, and Doyoung back here now.” 

“I’ll go get them. You two will stay here while I’m gone, understood?” 

“Wouldn’t it be faster if we went with you so we could leave from there?” Donghyuck asks but Sicheng shakes his head. 

“I can’t let you be seen, we have no idea how or from where Min is receiving his information. If he was to find out Taeyong is playing him then who knows what he’d pull right then and there.” Sicheng explains. 

“Okay, you’ll be back soon right?” 

“Of course, Mark. Don’t worry Taeyong will be fine, I promise.” 

⋆⋆⋆

When Sicheng gets back, Doyoung immediately makes his way to Mark pulling him into a tight hug. He suppresses the groan threatening to leave him from the force Doyoung is using, hugging him back and burying his head in his shoulder. 

Mark can hear Sicheng catching up the rest of them as they stand there in their hug. It’s only when someone calls out Doyoung’s name that he pulls away. 

“Everything’s going to be okay.” He whispers, ruffling Mark’s hair in reassurance. Mark smiles the best he can, grateful that Doyoung was here. Besides Taeyong and Jungwoo, Doyoung was the other Avenger he was closest to. 

“So what’s the plan?” Doyoung asks as the two walk over to the table where the rest were huddled around.

“Min wants Deadpool but doesn’t know what Donghyuck looks like. Taeyong knew that, which is why he took Jungwoo,” Mark says, carefully.

“Yeah, but he knows what he sounds like.” Sicheng points out, Mark nodding in agreement. 

“He’s only ever heard us speak. Can tell the difference between both of our voices. So if Taeyong was willing to take Jungwoo while knowing that it means he’s using some sort of voice changing software. It must be built into the suits or he added the programming.” 

“To make him sound like Donghyuck?” Yukhei asks, eyebrows raised.

“Exactly. He wouldn’t just take him like that so I was thinking of Donghyuck and I both showing up in Deadpool’s gear. Confuse Min long enough for you guys to take him down.” 

“Absolutely not.” Doyoung shakes his head. “Taeyong didn’t take Donghyuck because he didn’t want him anywhere near Min. You’re not even fully healed yet and you’re suggesting for us to take you somewhere completely dangerous. I don’t think so.” 

“Doyoung, listen. There will be three Deadpools, all sounding like Donghyuck. Min won’t know who’s who, it’ll buy you guys time and you know it.” Mark argues but Doyoung just continues shaking his head.

“He’s right, Doyoung. It’s a smart idea.” Jaehyun cuts in and Doyoung turns to glare at him. 

“Are you even listening to yourself? You know Taeyong wouldn’t want either one of them near Min.” 

“Well do you have any other idea because Taeyong and Jungwoo are out there right now and we’re wasting time here arguing.” 

“I’m sure we can think of something else that does not involve putting them in danger.” 

“Jungwoo is out there. He’s not even fully equipped for field work for fuck’s sake and you’re saying we should spend more time here when we could be out there helping them?” Yukhei close to yells, dropping Mjölnir on the table with a thud. 

“Fine, if we take them and something happens to either one of them you’re all taking responsibility for it. It seems like I’m the only sane one here,” By the time he finishes speaking it sounds more like a growl than actual words as he grows in size and color, close to turning. He glares at all of them one last time before stalking over to the wall of suits. 

“Okay so now we move quickly. How do we access the voice programming within the suits, if it even exists?” Jaehyun asks. 

Sicheng turns to look at Mark at this, “You have access to all of Taeyong’s tech. You know how to work most of it, right?” 

“M-Me?” Mark splutters, shocked at what Sicheng was claiming. 

“Yes, you. You’ve had access to it for some time now, I thought he had told you already?” 

"No? He's never told me anything?" 

"Well you do." He reaches out to the corner of the table hitting something underside which makes it light up, a soft humming noise coming from it as it wakes up. A small panel comes up from the table and Sicheng gestures for Mark to place his hand on it. Mark tentatively lifts his hand, placing it on the pad half expecting it to start yelling intruder but after it finishes scanning it a soft voice says, “Welcome Mark Lee,”. 

With wide eyes Mark looks up at Sicheng who only shrugs at him. 

“While you do whatever you’re about to do I think we should go clean up and suit up. Sounds good?” He asks but doesn’t wait for Mark to respond already walking away. Jaehyun and Yukhei follow behind him leaving Donghyuck and Mark alone at the table. 

Mark stares down at the table, feeling slightly overwhelmed by everything on it. Donghyuck seems to notice because he steps closer to him, wrapping an arm around him and rubbing his shoulder. 

“It’s okay, you got this,” He whispers, reassuringly. 

Mark shoots him a small smile before breathing in deeply. 

“Okay umm so bring up everything you have on Deadpool,” Mark says. Almost immediately small holograms of several different suits show up on the table. Donghyuck besides him gasps softly at seeing them all, clearly not expecting there to be more than the two versions he had been shown. 

Mark swipes at them trying to identify any subtle differences but comes up short. “They all look very similar right?” Mark asks Donghyuck who nods. 

“Can you show me which suits are currently available to use now.” All but one of the suits grows in size at his request. 

“That must be the suit Taeyong took,” Donghyuck whispers. 

“Yeah, it looks like it,” Mark mutters. “Pull up anything that has to do with voice programming, any software.” 

At that request only two suits remain and the software piece shows up next to them. Mark grabs it with two fingers before flicking them to make it larger. 

“This is the software?” 

“Yes, it’s one of Mr. Lee’s current projects.” The voice explains to him. 

“And this tech is able to replicate any voice? Or how does it work?” 

“Mr. Lee programmed it to have the user’s voice replica installed within it. If you wish to replicate another individual's voice you must record at least thirty seconds of them speaking to allow the software to issue another persona.” 

“Perfect, thank you. Can you bring up those two suits from their place.” 

The humming grows louder for a split second before a soft hiss is heard across from the room making the two of them look up. The wall slides open revealing two Deadpool suits. They make their way over just as the rest return, looking a bit more put together than before. 

“You figured it out?” Jaehyun asks to which Mark nods. 

“Okay good, both of you change while we go over any last details.” 

Mark nods again, reaching for his shirt to undress. He ignores the stinging in his shoulder from the harsh movement opting to pull down his pants in a hurry to pull on the suit. Donghyuck is wordlessly changing as well a few feet away from him. The suit is a lot heavier than Mark had expected, used to the weightlessness of his own. Blinking through the mask he tries to adjust to the eyepieces as well as the screening of the suit. 

“It only takes a couple seconds,” Donghyuck tells him, having guessed what was bothering Mark. 

“Activate voice software,” he breathes and a second later he is asked if he'd like to create a new persona or use the owner’s voice. 

“Donghyuck”s,” He answers. 

“Is it on?” Donghyuck asks. 

He looks over at him, shrugging. “It should be.” 

“Holy shit, it really does work.” Donghyuck exclaims, stepping closer to him. “Say something else.” 

“Why wouldn’t it work? Taeyong created it.” He tells him and Mark can almost see Donghyuck rolling his eyes through the mask. 

“Okay enough of that.” Sicheng interrupts them. “Now that we know it works, let’s go.” 

“We go in, Mark and Donghyuck confuse Min effectively causing a distraction big enough for us to take down Min. Simple as that.” Jaehyun clarifies for one last time. 

“It’s never that simple and you know it.” Doyoung reminds him. He still looks extremely upset at everything but he’s no longer at the verge of turning. 

“I want no casualties within us, you hear me? In a perfect world we walk in there, kick some ass, take down Min, and all come home.” He continues. 

“You’re going to end up jinxing us, as you earthlings say,” Yukhei comments which earns him a growl from Doyoung. 

“Let’s get out of here before I change my mind about this whole thing.” He growls, looking at Sicheng. 

“Donghyuck already told me the place, we’ll step in first then the two of you follow, alright?” Mark and Donghyuck nod before Sicheng turns and opens the portal. One by one they all step through until it’s just the two of them. Donghyuck moves to walk through but Mark catches a hold of his arm, stopping him. 

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Mark tells him. 

“I won’t.” 

“We still need to have a proper talk when we come back, yeah? Which means we both need to come back.” And Mark wishes he could see Donghyuck’s face, to see if what his gut was telling him was actually true. 

“Okay, Mark.” Is the only thing Donghyuck says and if they had more time Mark would make him stay until he properly agreed but because they don’t Mark will have to trust him. 

“Okay, let’s go,” Mark breathes out as he let’s Donghyuck go. 

⋆⋆⋆

The first thing Mark notices is the smell. It’s a stench so bad Mark almost gags, feeling his stomach turn. The floor is covered in thick black goo, similar to the substance the people he had seen cough up. 

“What the fuck is that?” Donghyuck asks. 

“No idea but it stinks,” Yukhei calls out from in front of them only for Jaehyun to raise his hand, asking for silence. They all freeze staring at Jaehyun, waiting for him to speak. 

“Do you hear that?” He asks and it takes a second for his words to register to Mark but when they do he hears it. It’s faint but he can make out some sort of yelling and grunting coming from several floors up. 

“Upstairs,” Mark says, already moving towards the stairs up ahead but Donghyuck stops him. 

“You aren’t in your suit right now,” He whispers to him and Mark freezes. He’s right and Mark had already forgotten. He didn’t have his webs with him right now, only the knives on his hips and the katanas strapped on his back. If he was going to fight he’d have to do it as Deadpool would, not Spiderman. 

“Can you get us up there?” Doyoung asks Sicheng. He stands, listening for a moment before nodding. He circles his arm, opening the portal. 

It’s dark but Mark can make out a group of people through the portal. They’re bunched up around a corner but then one of them moves away and Mark sees a flash of red and gold. 

Taeyong. 

The others must see it too because they move quickly, running through the portal. Mark follows behind Donghyuck, hand reaching behind him to grab a hold of one of the katanas. He pulls it out by the time they pass through. 

The smell on this floor was almost worse than the previous. The smell seemed to be a lot stronger than before, even though there was no black goo to be seen. 

Jaehyun and Doyoung are already helping Taeyong while Yukhei was throwing around some other people. Looking around Mark realizes that on the far side of the wall, away from them, there is a line of people leaning up against it. Their eyes are closed but Mark can see a trail of black blood trailing down from their noses. 

A loud thud makes Mark look away from them, towards Yukhei who is slamming someone repeatedly against the floor. 

“Stop!” Taeyong yells but Yukhei continues. “Do not aim to kill or else they’ll just liquify into goo and activate the others!”

Yukhei slams the man once more before finally letting him go, the body crumpling down to the ground unconscious. Jaehyun slams his shield against two others, effectively knocking them out. The last few are slammed into the wall by Doyoung leaving the rest to catch their breath. 

Mark takes the chance to look over Taeyong. His suit is splattered in black goo and blood, some pieces of suit seem to have almost been dissolved in certain areas but other than that he seems to be fine. Jungwoo stands behind him holding both katanas in hand, blood dripping down onto the floor. 

“Where’s Min?” Jaehyun asks, staring at the line of sleeping men. 

“I’d say top floor. He’s had us fighting these things since we stepped through the door,” Taeyong explains. 

“Learned the hard way not to kill them,” Jungwoo fills in and Mark tries to not show his surprise at hearing Donghyuck’s voice.

Taeyong finally seems to notice Mark and Donghyuck because he stills, staring at the two of them. His head whips around the room coming to a stop on Sicheng. Mark watches as he puts everything together and he turns to look at Doyoung. 

“What did you do?” 

“What needed to be done,” Jaehyun answers. Taeyong’s face piece peels back revealing his face and Mark can see how angry he is. 

“What needed to be done? I was handling this! I didn’t ne-” 

“Shut up, we aren’t going to argue over this,” Jaehyun cuts him off. “What is done is done. We need to either take down Min or get the hell out of here while we still can.” 

“I say let’s get out.” Yukhei comments as he stares at Jungwoo. He hasn’t moved from behind Taeyong but he’s now leaning against the wall, his weight off of his right leg. There’s a giant slash Mark hadn’t noticed before. 

Taeyong looks around the room again, eyes lingering on Mark and Donghyuck before he nods. “Okay let’s get out of here, we’ll catch Min another day.” 

Sicheng wordlessly steps back, knocking his fists together before circling his arm to open the portal back home. Yukhei moves across the room to Jungwoo circling an arm around his waist helping him walk through. Doyoung and Jaehyun walk together and Donghyuck grabs his arm ready to follow them but Mark shakes his head signaling he wants to wait for Taeyong. 

Donghyuck seems to understand because he stops, his arm still holding onto Mark as they wait together. Taeyong takes a step forward when his face morphs into something Mark can’t read before he hears a thud behind him. He spins, katana up and ready to fight only to find Sicheng knocked out cold on the floor, the portal gone. A few feet away stands one of the men Mark had seen earlier before, lined against the wall with the rest of them. 

His hand reaches up to wipe at the blood from his nose, clicking his teeth when he’s unable to wipe it fully away. 

“I ask for one simple thing and what do I get? I get you lot trying to one up me by bringing along not one fake but two. Ridiculous!” He says as he stretches his neck. 

Mark holds his breath, frozen, watching him, confused on how he was able to speak coherently when the other gifted hadn’t been able to. 

“What? You guys can’t even recognize me?” He asks, tilting his head slightly as he watches them. His blonde bangs fall into his eyes as does this, squinting at them as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

“Maybe this will help,” He mutters before swiping his hand down in front of his face. Instantly his clothes change from the dirty white shirt and ripped jeans to the familiar full black hooded attire. Donghyuck moves instantly, pushing Mark behind him while reaching for the other katana behind his back. He holds the two in front of him, slightly leaned forward ready to attack at any move. 

Min snorts at the movement, reaching up to pull his hood down to reveal his face. He’s smiling, high cheekbones on full display as he watches the display before him. 

“The way the two of you desire to protect one another is admirable I must admit. I assume you learned it from Mr. Lee over there.” His eyes trail behind them to Taeyong. “It didn’t take a genius to see how much he cares about the little insect. After all, that is the only reason we’re standing here right now.” 

“Why are you doing this?” Taeyong asks, stepping forward until he’s next to Mark and Donghyuck. 

“You already know why. I want the boy.” 

“For what? You know you can’t kill him if that’s what you want.” 

Min frowns, shaking his head. “I don’t want to kill him.” 

“Then why? Why even bother going through all this trouble? What is it you really want?” Taeyong presses, clearly becoming impatient. Mark was still behind Donghyuck, he tries to push through but he stands his ground. 

Min walks closer, stepping over Sicheng but Taeyong raises his hand in a warning prompting Min to stop. His lips are pursed, clearly finding the situation amusing. 

“You really think you’re in control of the situation here?” He asks. 

“I want to know what you want with the kid.” Taeyong spits out which makes Min laugh. 

“Isn’t it obvious?” He taunts, “I want his healing ability.” And with that his hand shoots out towards the line of men waking them up. 

“Wait!” Donghyuck yells causing Min to halt. 

“I’ll go with you peacefully if you let them go unharmed.” He rushes to say and Mark reaches forward to grab onto his arm, trying to reason with him but he shakes it off. 

“How do I know it’s really you?” Min questions, flicking his hand to make the men sleep again. 

“It’s not him!” Mark gasps out, feeling his heart thumping against his chest. “He’s the fake!” Donghyuck elbows him hard, shutting him up. 

“Simple,” Donghyuck answers before slicing down on his wrist. The suit rips open showing his honey skin, the cut open and deep, blood flowing down freely. It continues to flow for a minute or two more before it stops altogether, a thin pink line in its place. 

“Okay, I’ll let them go.” 

“Swear you’ll do it.” Donghyuck insists and Mark is about to argue when he catches movement from behind Min. Sicheng is moving his hands quietly, thin golden webs emitting from his fingers. 

“I swe-” Min is cut off by Sicheng rolling on his side and surging forward, wrapping the gold webs around his feet before pulling hard. Min falls down and Sicheng quickly stands up, racing to open a portal. Taeyong blasts Min, hitting him once before missing the second time. 

“Go!” Taeyong yells as the portal opens, still trying to blast Min. 

Mark doesn’t hesitate to push Donghyuck forward, shoving him through the portal. He looks at Sicheng who’s standing next to it, “Please make sure he doesn’t come through again.” 

Sicheng stares at him, face unreadable before nodding. He pulls off one of the many necklaces adorning his neck, handing it to him. 

“I’ll go through to keep him there. When you need me to open the portal just ask the necklace to tell me.” He says before walking through, the portal closing behind him. 

Mark turns around, clutching the necklace tightly in his grasp, the katana in the other. Min has managed to stand up and is dodging Taeyong’s blasts. 

“You’ve ruined everything!” Min spits out as he throws his arm out and Taeyong goes flying back into the wall behind Mark.

“He was willing to come with me but you’re just too damn selfish to let him go!” He shouts as he stalks forward. 

“He’s not going anywhere with you, not as long as I’m alive,” Mark tells him, shoving the necklace into one of the knife sleeves on his hips. 

“Then I guess we’ll have to change that.” Is all Min says before Mark feels himself be lifted off the ground and thrown to the side. 

Mark lands hard on his back, seeing stars as he blinks. He grunts, trying to stand up again but as he shifts he feels a sharp pain on the lower part of his back that snakes its way up. 

“Pathetic.” Mark is thrown back into the wall again, much harder than before. Mark’s eyes clench from the force and the pain but he still tries to get up. 

“Stop!” Taeyong yells making Min falter. He turns partially, staring at Taeyong. He’s stepped out of his suit, hands up as he stares back at Min. 

“You don’t have to do this.” 

“I need that boy.”

“For what? You’re already gifted, why would you need his ability as well?” Taeyong tries to reason with him. 

“You wouldn’t understand.” 

“Then make me understand, Tae. Make me understand why you’d betray a friend after everything we’ve been through.” 

Friends? Mark wonders if he’s imagined that. 

“It’s nothing personal, believe me, but family comes first.” He tells him before throwing him back into the wall. Taeyong tries to stand up but something is holding him down by the waist. He thrashes, trying to pull off the invisible force but it's no use. 

Min turns back around to face Mark. 

“If only you had let him come with me we wouldn’t be in this situation.” He walks over to Mark, squatting down to look at him. “Now I’ll have to kill both of you. A pity.” 

He stands up, walking to one of the windows. He pushes his palm against it and the glass shatters, the pieces flying out along with the steel window frame. 

Mark forces himself to stand, ignoring the pain it brings him. He’s reaching for a knife, the katana he had earlier having flown out of his grasp, but his hands shaking violently as he pulls it which makes the necklace Sicheng had given him fall onto the floor. Min doesn’t even bother looking back as he raises his arm up above his head before slamming it down and stepping out the window. 

He’s confused for a second, unsure of what Min had done when he hears the crack. His head snaps up and he watches as the crack in the ceiling snakes its way through the whole thing. Just as quickly, he looks over at Taeyong ready to run toward him in an attempt to shield him but Taeyong is pointing his arm out towards him. He’s only managed to take one step forward when the ceiling comes down. 

Mark still tries to move forward despite it but something slams into him. His mind barely seems to register the familiar piece of iron on his leg before more keep slamming into his body. He screams Taeyong's name but by the time the ceiling comes down fully Mark is wearing the suit completely. 

He gasps at the weight and all the different screens in front of him. Ten’s voice is yelling at him but he can’t hear him over the ringing in his ears. He stands up, feeling a large weight fall from his back. 

He can’t see anything but he still tries to push through the rubble. He tries to get to Taeyong. 

“Mark! Listen to me, you have several broken bones and most likely head trauma. You need to take things slow!” Ten yells. 

“Taeyong,” he whispers, tripping over something and falling down. 

“Your breathing levels are extremely elevated. I know you want to help Taeyong but you won’t be able to if you don’t calm down.” 

“Why can’t I see?” He questions, gasping as he tries to get a hold of his breathing. 

“I can’t do a full scan here, some of my network is down due to those things. Breathe okay, temporary vision loss is common with head injuries.” 

“I’m breathing,” Mark says and Ten hums. 

“You are, good job. Now slowly get up.” Ten sounds less than perfect in this moment, the panic visible in his voice. Mark does as he’s told, standing up slowly. He blinks hard willing himself to see and when he opens them he can. It’s blurry and Mark can barely make out much but he can see. 

He steps forward, looking down to ensure he doesn’t trip again. He makes his way as quickly as he can to where Taeyong had been before the ceiling had collapsed, seeing several pieces lay in a pile. 

He reaches for one, pulling it up and throwing it to the side. Continues to do that until he sees a sliver of skin. He picks up the pace, praying that Taeyong was still breathing. It’s only until he can see Taeyong from his torso up that he stops. He’s reaching for him, planning to pull him out, when ten stops him. 

“He could have some serious permanent damage if we move him recklessly.” He warns him and Mark nods, falling down onto his knees. At Mark’s request frees one of his arms from the suit.

His hand shakes as he reaches for Taeyong’s neck in order to check for a pulse. His skin is still warm when it touches Mark’s fingers but as he presses down he feels nothing. He shakes throughout as he moves his fingers elsewhere looking hopelessly for a pulse. Mark doesn’t even register he’s sobbing until Ten screams at him. 

“Mark I’m calling Doyoung now, do you need me to speak to him or can you?” 

Mark doesn’t answer, can’t bring himself to answer through the knot stuck in his throat. He looks down at Taeyong through his tears desperately wishing Taeyong would wake up. He doesn’t hear Ten or Doyoung’s voice, doesn’t know how much time passes when he feels someone push him aside. He almost starts to fight when he realizes its Sicheng, Doyoung following after him. Mark falls back and almost immediately Jaehyun is at his side. He’s telling him something but Mark isn’t listening, can’t listen. 

Jaehyun must realize that because he’s then pulling Mark out of the suit. Mark struggles against his hold, not wanting to be taken away from Taeyong but Jaehyun doesn’t let him go, only tightens his grip. He ignores Mark’s screams and kicks until he’s walked through the portal and they’re back home. Sicheng has made the portal go straight to his room so Jaehyun places Mark down on his bed carefully. 

Donghyuck is by his side instantly, pulling him towards his chest. Mark lets himself be pulled, hand clutching onto Donghyuck’s shirt, the cotton wrinkling as Mark cries into his chest. Donghyuck doesn’t say much, only runs his hand through his hair letting Mark cry. 

“You pr-promise not to do anything stupid,” Mark manages to gasp out inbetween sobs. He can feel Donghyuck stiffen against him, hand stopping in his hair.

“I know, Mark. I’m so sorry.” He whispers into his hair and Mark knows that’s not the only thing he’s apologizing for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there have been a lot of things happening in the world these past few months. i hope all of you have been educating yourselves throughout these times because it's important to stay educated. although not all of us are able to go out and physically help make a difference there are petitions and other ways we can support. make sure to check out informational carrds that are constantly being updated and can be easily found if you search up the black lives matter movement with carrd right after it. a little goes a long way and together we can help make a difference.


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